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Copyright N° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Unhand Me! 



A COMMENT ON RELIGION 



BY 



OSCAR EDGAR WINBURN 



Illustrated 

with Reproductions from 

Original Drawings 

by the Author 



1905 

OSCAR EDGAR WINBURN 

661 East 136th Street 

New York 









905 

; >iry 



Sopyrtgni 



IB. 






■»*" 



Copyright, 1904 

by 

OSCAR EDGAR WINBURN 



From the presses of the Federal Printing Company 
200 Greene St.. New York City 



This is to certify that the Federal Printing Company 
employs in its composing-rooms members of Typo- 
graphical Union No. 6 exclusively, and that relations ex- 
isting between said Company and Union are satisfactory 
in every particular. 

(Signed) P. H. McCORMICK, President 

Typographical Union No. 6 
New York, Jan. 23. 1905 



CONTENTS. 

Preface 4 

In Explanation 7 

Life and Death . . . . r 14 

The Basis of Religion 19 

The Components of Religion 23 

Mormonism 31 

Christianity 41 

The Mistake of Moses 61 

The Four Indictments Against Christianity: 

Drunkenness 83 

Poverty 86 

Capital Punishment 90 

Intolerance 93 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Bridge of Life 6 

Dissolution 66 

Evolution 67 

Spiral Nebula 78 

Various Nebulae 79 

Source of Religion 94 



PREFACE. 



GLADSTONE said: "The century can be 
summed up in one phrase — Unhand me!" 
And in this determined revolt against every- 
thing that seems to interfere in any way with 
the freedom of the individual and his thoughts 
can be found the explanation of almost all the impor- 
tant developments of our times. The cry which Martin 
Luther raised in 1517 has been echoing and reechoing 
until its volume has become a menace to established con- 
servatism. 

The day of blind following of an unexplained leader- 
ship is fast passing. Education and religious liberty 
have caused men to become suspicious of many so- 
called "authoritative" truths, and never in the world's 
history has man been so anxious and eager to know the 
truth. 

Of course, the man who does his own thinking may 
not in every instance think rightly, but he is never so 
unfit for citizenship as the individual who allows another 
to do his thinking for him. This slow-moving tide of 
individualism cannot be stemmed, and self-elected "au- 
thorities" should harken to the cry of the times, stop 
shouting worn-out shibboleths, and begin to teach the 
blind to see and the deaf to hear. 

In issuing this book I have no desire to add to the 
already enormous mass of "orthodox" rubbish which fills 
our library shelves. It contains a plain, blunt state- 
ment of what one individual, in his heart of hearts, really 
thinks about religion. My study of this subject, I be- 
lieve, has been thorough and honest. I have made as 
earnest an effort to get at the real truth and purposes of 



established religious teachings and customs as possible. 
And my deductions have been arrived at without malice 
or prejudice. If they seemed to me to be wrong I have 
said so, regardless of consequences. And if I have 
missed the mark it is not because I have not diligently 
sought it. 

And I, therefore, hereby solemnly swear that the con- 
tents of this book — Unhand Me! — are as near as pos- 
sible "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 
truth." 

(Sigmed) 




New York, January 1, 1905. 







BBS t?i^rf^^^&^ 


11 

1 MYSTERY 

I 


■ the bridge of life' 


^^^ "ftom the Cradle to the Crave."' 


-; ; -'-^g'' 



THIS drawing, perhaps, best illustrates the ideas ad- 
vanced in the following pages. A human atom in 
the shape of a babe emerges from an impenetrable 
tomb of "mystery." Its vision at first is able to grasp only a 
portion of the journey ahead. Later on this human atom 
advances to the school age, when, filled with enthusiasm and 
ambition, it seeks to advance as rapidly as possible toward 
manhood. Young manhood finds this human atom, flushed 
with victory over the simple problems that have so far con- 
fronted him, eager for a trial at the more complex problems 
of life. At the prime of life we find this human atom 
somewhat cooled in his enthusiasm. He begins to look with 
suspicion on the great mass of "mystery" that completely 
envelops the end of his course. At middle age he begins 
to seriously wonder if the "religion of his fathers" has 
rightly defined the meaning of that all-important question, 
What is death? Old age apparently reconciles this human 
atom to the fact that death is inevitable and should be met 
as philosophically as possible. At no time, from the cradle 
to the grave, does he really know one iota of fact in 
regard to the secrets which may begin at either end of the 
Bridge of Life. 




UNHAND ME! 



IN EXPLANATION. 

E are becoming a race of hypocrites. Per- 
haps the most important cause for this 
tendency is that certain fundamental cus- 
toms and ideas which were once regarded 
as true and sacred have been proved to 
be false or improbable. The efforts of 
science have been thrown like a searchlight upon the 
mysteries surrounding many so-called "inspired truths" 
and "supernatural occurrences, ,, and the result has been 
that instead of finding corroborative evidence we have 
found footprints of inexcusable human "cussedness." 
Yet, in the face of these revelations, we cling to these 
false ideas because they are too "holy" and "sacred" to 
be discarded. We profess things that we, in our hearts, 
do not believe, and this is hypocrisy. 

There are also other alleged phenomena, regarding 
which the advocates of the various forms of religion 
claim to possess supernatural knowledge, which as yet 
the searching eye of science has been unable to explain. 
Whether these phenomena really exist or not is purely a 
matter of conjecture. 

For instance, modern Christianity makes no effort to 
prove the existence of a material heaven or hell. We 
are simply called upon to "believe" that these two ultra- 
extreme places of pleasure and pain do exist. Chris- 
tians do not attempt to prove their assertions; and why? 
Simply because not one iota of evidence have they that 
there is either a heaven or a hell. 



8 UNHAND ME! 

In the olden times the religionists pointed toward the 
sky and said, "there is heaven," and likewise toward the 
earth, and said, "beneath the earth is hell. ,, According 
to their master minds, angels appeared in the clouds and 
descended to the earth. We are told that when Sodom 
and Gomorrah were destroyed the Supreme Power 
rained brimstone and fire out of heaven upon the doomed 
cities. Joseph in his dream saw a ladder let down from 
heaven. Prophet Elijah went up to heaven in a chariot 
and his mantle fell on Elisha. And when Christ was 
baptized, according to the Bible, the heavens were 
opened and the Spirit descended in bodily shape. In 
Luke 24:51 we are told that Christ blessed his apostles 
and was carried up into heaven. 

Passages innumerable might be quoted from the 
Bible which would satisfy any thinking man that it was 
the intention of the authors of that work to impress upon 
the minds of their readers the fact that the sky above 
our heads contained a country or city which was re- 
served for the eternal residence of the believers in Christ, 
and that beneath the earth there existed a place of 
eternal punishment. 

The authors of the "plan of salvation" apparently 
supposed that the placing of heaven and hell at such 
great distances would be sufficient to halt the investiga- 
tions of critical minds; but not so. Our mighty tele- 
scopes invented since the Bible was written have enabled 
us to look out into space for millions of miles. Every 
visible star and planet has been carefully examined for 
any trace of the existence of a heaven or hell. And 
after years of observation and research astronomy an- 
nounces to the world that there are no such places as heaven 
and hell in the material universe. 

In the face of this all-important scientific discovery, 
religionists, realizing that it was useless to fight against 
solid, proved truth, began to invent theories in an en- 
deavor to offset the effect. The more ignorant still 



UNHAND ME! 9 

cling to the idea that somewhere the sky conceals a 
heaven and a hell. They argue, and with much logic, 
that the doctrine of reincarnation admits of nothing less 
than a material heaven. The proof, then, that there do 
not exist such places in the material universe makes rein- 
carnation improbable, and strikes a death-blow at the 
root of Christianity. 

Other religionists try to smooth over the matter by 
using a brand of evasion called diplomacy. Some ex- 
plain the discrepancy between religion and fact by saying 
that these two disputed places do exist, but only in a 
spiritual sense. Others claim that heaven and hell exist 
in each individual conscience — that is, if we are good we 
experience the fruits of goodness (heaven), and if we are 
bad we suffer the consequences of badness (hell). Others 
claim that there is a material heaven, but no hell. Others 
say that heaven and hell have been ordered, but have not 
yet arrived. And still others claim that the central por- 
tion of the sun is heaven, and the outer portion is hell. 
An impassable gulf is supposed to separate them. 

It seems to be a grand guessing match, in which the 
object is not so much to get at the truth, but rather to 
bolster up the plan of salvation as announced by Christ. 
It reminds one of the consternation caused by a thun- 
derstorm coming suddenly upon a picnic party. Each 
person claims the shelter of the nearest tree. 

All such "theories" and "doctrines" and "beliefs" in 
regard to the after-life are plainly the inventions of man. 
There can be no doubt of that fact. They are not based 
on proved facts, or results of careful investigations. 

Heaven and hell have proved a will-o'-the-wisp, and 
searching parties sent out to capture the illusive fancy 
have tired of the unprofitable search and have reported 
back not where the places were, but where they might be, 
though at the same time confessing absolute absence of 
real proof and admitting that they might be somewhere 
else. 



10 UNHAND ME! 

In discussing this subject recently a clergyman stated 
that he felt in his heart that there was a heaven. I would 
not seek to make light of any man's honest opinions; 
yet, while this clergyman may have been sincere, such 
evidence as he professed is decidedly unreliable. 

If heaven is only a fancy, then Christianity is false, 
Christ a humbug, and salvation a dream. And yet when 
I cry for evidence on which to base an intelligent belief 
of the truth of the primal claim of Christianity, I am told 
that my friend is affected with some indescribable, inex- 
plainable feeling in his heart which tells him that there 
does exist an eternal place of pleasure. Sherlock 
Holmes would find his wonderful system of deduction 
useless in this case. There is no hypothesis here on 
which to base a possible theory. 

Christianity exclaims, "believe, believe; put away dis- 
cussions and investigations. " How beautiful and easy 
it is made! Just stop, shut your eyes and jump. You 
are supposed to land somewhere, but don't bother your 
mind about that. Then you are supposed to be gathered 
up, transformed, equipped with a harp and a crown and 
given a "place" in heaven. Why, it seems that nobody 
but a fool would hesitate, especially since if you do not 
jump the devil will get you and roast you in a white-hot 
oven. And do you know that a vast majority of people 
accept Christianity because they are scared into it? The 
devil and his hot oven make more converts to Christian- 
ity than all other schemes combined. 

But the idea of a material heaven and hell is being 
rapidly discarded by Christianity. The most popular 
belief to-day in regard to these two places is that they do 
exist, but only in a spiritual sense, to be used as a reposi- 
tory for the freed souls of departed human beings. The 
explanation for the invention of this theory is that since 
the Bible teaches the existence of such places, and, since 
it has been proved that there is no material heaven or 
hell, in order to sustain the remaining doctrines of the 



UNHAND ME! 11 

Bible some theory which cannot be disproved must be 
put forward. But we cannot get away from the fact 
that the Bible plainly teaches that heaven and hell are 
material. 

St. Paul says (Heb. 11:16) that the Supreme Power 
has prepared a city for believers. In Revelation St. 
John tells of his alleged visit to heaven. He states that 
after being called by a loud voice he turned and saw 
seven golden candlesticks. Golden candlesticks are dis- 
tinctly material and not spiritual. He also says that he 
saw Christ clothed with a long garment that reached down 
to his feet, his hair was as white as snow, and his feet 
seemed to be made of molded brass. This minute de- 
scription of Christ is decidedly not that of a spiritual 
personage. It fairly teems with material terms. 

St. John states (Rev. 4) that while he was writing 
down what Christ had told him that suddenly a door was 
opened and some one called to him through a mega- 
phone to come inside. He states that he obeyed the 
voice, and that he saw the Supreme Power sitting on a 
throne, surrounded by twenty-four seats, on which were 
sitting twenty-four men clothed in white and each having 
a golden crown on his head. 

Now a seat is an invention of man intended to act as 
a resting-place for tired and aching bones. I thought 
that spirits were a kind of boneless affair, without shape 
or composition, that could be here, there and everywhere 
at the same time. But John says that he saw them — 
twenty-four of them — with clothes on, sitting around the 
throne of the Supreme Power! Besides these John 
says that he saw four beasts. Think of that, you who 
say that animals have not souls! If John's description 
is of things spiritual, then you must admit that at least 
four beasts' spirits had found their way to heaven. These 
beasts were sitting near the throne and they had many 
eyes, both inside and outside. Then John saw that the 
Supreme Power held a book in his hand, which was §o 



12 UNHAND ME! 

tightly sealed that no one was able to open it. Then 
John cried because he was anxious to see what was 
written in the book. It seems that Christ had gone out 
while John was wondering what the book contained, for 
suddenly he came upon the scene in the shape of a 
slain (?) lamb. But, strange to say, the fact that the lamb 
was slain did not interfere with its performing the won- 
derful stunt of prying open that book. John began his 
story by declaring that he saw things in the spirit, then 
he descends to the material and finally runs amuck 
among the ridiculous. 

This fanciful story of John's is given as a part of the 
"inspired" word of the Supreme Power, and must there- 
fore be accepted by Christians as the whole truth. But, 
candidly, it seems to me that the Book of Revelation 
is rather a problem novel, with a certain purpose in its 
plot. Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" may be cited as 
a parallel. Instead of being a truthful narrative of actual 
occurrences, it is rather the masterpiece of the wonder- 
ful imaginative genius of a born novelist impelled by the 
philosophy and teachings of Christ. 

There are also many references in the Bible which 
leave no doubt that it was Christ's intention to leave the 
impression that heaven and hell were material. In his 
parable of Lazarus and Dives, Christ says that after 
Dives died he lifted up his eyes, and saw Lazarus up in 
heaven; and that Dives cried with a loud voice to 
Abraham to let Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water 
and cool his (Dives) tongue, because he was tormented 
in the flame. Not only does Christ here speak of a ma- 
terial heaven and hell, but he also indicates that the 
inhabitants thereof were of flesh and bone and nerves, 
and were subject to human pleasures and pain. 

On several occasions angels are said to have ap- 
peared coming down from heaven and to have disap- 
peared in the same direction. Christ is said to have gone 
up in the skies, when he left his disciples at Bethany. 



UNHAND ME! 13 

In John's description of heaven he says: "The 
building of the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was 
pure gold, and the foundations of the city were garnished 
with all manner of precious stones/' including jasper, 
sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrys- 
olyte, beryl, topaz, chrysoprasus and amethyst, "the 
twelve gates were twelve pearls" and "the streets were 
of pure gold." 

If heaven and hell are material, we have absolutely 
no evidence that such is the case. And when modern 
Christianity makes the assertion that the places are 
spiritual, the burden of proof still lies heavily upon the 
shoulders of Christ's followers, with absolutely no evi- 
dence to support their claims. 



LIFE AND DEATH, 



CHRISTIANITY teaches a philosophy based 
primarily upon the hypothesis that death is 
merely a dividing line in man's existence, de- 
termining the end of his earthly life and the 
beginning of another existence which is said to 
be eternal. The conditions of the after-life, the systems 
of government to be employed in the eternal "city," and 
even the details of the architectural construction of the 
city itself, are supposed to be revealed by the Supreme 
Power to man in the so-called "Word of God." St. 
Paul (I Cor. 15:51-52) says: "We shall not all sleep 
* * * in the twinkling of an eye * * * the trumpet 
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised." 

But how are we to know that this theory of man's 
future existence is correct? By "know" I mean the pos- 
session of sufficient proof to convince the thinking man 
that Christianity has rightly defined "death." I am free 
to confess that I do not know what death is. There are 
thousands of other people who are willing to confess 
that they do not know the definition of death. And I 
feel safe in going further and stating that I do not be- 
lieve that a single mortal in existence to-day knows the 
facts as they really are. 

Before we can answer the question of what death is, 
first let us decide upon an answer for the question, What 
is life? 

Ask the learned biologist, who has spent his life in 
constant research and scientific investigations in ques- 
tions dealing almost exclusively with life, what that 
something which distinguishes the dead from the living 
is. Define it — give its chemical analysis. Can he do 
it? No. He tells us that so far science has been unable 
to tell what life is. 



UNHAND ME! 15 

Ask the most eminent physicist, the most noted 
physiologist, even the clergyman, who claims to be 
"called of God" to teach the doctrines of death and eter- 
nity; ask the world, What is life? No answer. No one 
knows. 

We see it every day, on every hand. Our friends 
and ourselves possess that peculiar quality called life. 
The birds of the air, the beasts of the fields, even the 
grape-vine that entwines itself around its supports, and 
the crab-apple geranium that fills the air with its pleasant 
perfume, all have life. You, my friend, and I also pos- 
sess that unknown quantity called life. The people who 
are going to severely criticize me for writing this book 
possess that mysterious thing called life. I put the 
question fairly to every one, What is life? 

If you cannot answer this question about something 
with which all are familiar, which all have seen, which all 
have experienced, which all at this moment possess, how 
can you expect to answer the question, What is death? 
Did you ever get a glimpse of things beyond the grave? 
Did any one who had experienced death return and tell 
you personally what death was? Brought down to the 
last analysis, we are compelled to admit that we do not 
know the definition of life or of death. We do not know 
when we are going to experience death, neither do we 
know whether or not death is the end of man's exist- 
ence. 

But since the thought that the grave should be the 
end of man is repulsive, we say: "I think that I am 
going to live forever;" "I believe that the Supreme 
Power will take me to heaven when I die;" "I hope that 
my name will be written in the Lamb's Book of Life." 
These are pleasant anticipations. We don't like to think 
of being laid away in a cold grave and there remaining 
dead — dead throughout eternity. But on what do you 
base your belief that death is a mere "valley" through 
which we pass from earth to another state of existence? 



16 UNHAND ME! 

The minister will say that the Supreme Power told his 
people the facts concerning death and the after-life; that 
he sent his son, who reiterated what the Supreme Power 
had said and invited all to choose between heaven and 
hell. I ask for the source of their information and 
they point to the Bible, which they tell us was inspired, 
or, in other words, is in reality the "Word of God." 

I ask the Mormons their authority for their belief in 
a "God" and a future existence beyond death. They 
refer me to the Bible and the Book of Mormon, the lat- 
ter being a supplement to the Bible alleged to have been 
given in 1823 to Joseph Smith by the Supreme Power 
and having equal authority with the Bible. 

I ask the Mohammedans for the source of their belief 
along similar lines, and they refer me to the Koran, 
which they allege is the "Word of God" as revealed by 
the Supreme Power to the prophet Mohammed. 

I ask the Brahmans, and they point to the Vedas, 
which they say were written by Brahma, the first person 
of the trinity. 

I ask the Confucians, the Shintoists, the Budsoists, 
the Dahomans, the Ashantees, the Malagasys, the 
Ramahavalys, the Tahitians — in fact, almost every sect 
— and all have evidence which they believe was handed 
down to them by their "God," sufficient to prove the 
existence of a Supreme Power and of his plan to convey 
the soul after death to another state of existence. Even 
the pagans of darkest Africa and in the most remote and 
uncivilized places of Asia believe in a Supreme Power 
and in an eternity. 

So far, apparently, the religions of the world agree. 
These two fundamental ideas form a groundwork upon 
which practically all religions are built. But the evidence 
by which all sustain their belief is simply that, "God told 
us so." And this unproved statement is all the evidence 
offered to prove that their teachings and doctrines are 
correct 



UNHAND ME! 17 

THE PERSONALITY OF "GOD." 

Now, it is impossible for me to conceive how any- 
one can intelligently doubt the existence of a Supreme 
Power. No one can study the details of the three 
sciences — biology, psychology and astronomy — without 
admitting that there is some power that organized, sys- 
tematized and is now in touch with the plan of the 
universe. To my mind the evidence is sufficient and 
indisputable. But to attempt to define this mysterious 
power, to describe its personal appearance, to enumer- 
ate its virtues or vices, or to claim relationship with it, is 
preposterous in the extreme. The one fact of the ex- 
istence of this mysterious power is stamped plainly 
everywhere and on everything. But here our knowledge 
on the subject ends, and all theories, beliefs and doc- 
trines which pretend to go further are mere conjectures 
and inventions of man. 

The religious world was startled when on the 18th 
day of last December that noted clergyman, Dr. Lyman 
Abbott, gave expression to his heart's conception of the 
Supreme Power. "My God is a great and ever-present 
force, which is manifest in all the activities of man and 
all the workings of nature. I believe in a God who is 
in and through and of everything — not an absentee God, 
whom we have to reach through a Bible or a priest or 
some other outside aid/' In commenting on Dr. Ab- 
bott's practical renunciation of Christianity, Bishop 
Cheney, of the Episcopal Church, flings back into the 
teeth of the outspoken clergyman the word "heretic." 
What power has elevated Bishop Cheney to the pedestal 
of infallibility, that he should thus stigmatize a 
fellow-mortal for speaking openly of what he thinks in 
his heart? Is the signet of divine approval in the cus- 
tody of this self-appointed clerical critic? Are Bishop 
Cheney's "thinks" in regard to the personality of the 
Supreme Power of any more value than Dr. Abbott's 



18 UNHAND ME! 

"thinks"? Bishop Cheney details his idea of the Su- 
preme Power as follows: "My idea of a Personal God 
is a God that has emotions, a God that I can converse 
with as understanding^ as with my own mother." 

I refuse to accept Bishop Cheney's "authority" over 
religious truth for the same reason that I refuse to accept 
any one else's "authority" over such matters. If Bishop 
Cheney can produce sufficient evidence to prove that 
his "idea" is correct, then it will be accepted by 
every man and every woman in the world who has 
enough brains to keep out of the insane asylum. But 
until Bishop Cheney does produce this evidence he is in 
no position to criticize others for refusing to accept his 
"idea" of the Supreme Power. 

Bishop Cheney's own ground is untenable. How 
does he know that this Supreme Power is subject to 
emotions? He does not know it; he only "believes" so. 
How does he know when he prays that he is conversing 
with a Personal God? He does not know it; he only 
"believes" so. How does he know that the actions of 
this Supreme Power are affected by his supplications? 
He does not know it; he only "believes" so. How does 
he know that his conception of this Supreme Power is 
correct? He does not know it; he only "believes" so. 
Many learned men have had "ideas," and "conceptions," 
and "beliefs," but no one from Adam down to Cheney 
has really known what this Supreme Power is. No one 
knows whether he is a personal God or whether he is 
an absentee God, whether he is a material God or 
whether he is a spiritual God. There is some power, 
beyond the knowledge of man to describe, which formed 
the universe, and which is now in touch with the proc- 
esses of evolution and dissolution which constitute the 
progress of material matters, but no man possesses a 
knowledge of what that Supreme Power is. 



THE BASIS OF RELIGION. 



IT is, primarily, the intention of this book to show 
this one fundamental truth of the existence of 
a Supreme Power to be the only proved belief of 
any of the various religious bodies. All enlarge- 
ments upon this fact I regard as mere inventions 
and conceptions of man, the most catching and plausible 
of which have been taken up and propagated by those 
persons over whom the authors of such conceptions had 
influence. 

The existence of a Supreme Power is the common 
ground on which the religions of the world agree, and 
from this point they branch out in all directions, the 
customs, character and intelligence of the people deter- 
mining in a large degree the nature of their supplemen- 
tary beliefs. 

There are, approximately, 1,000 different religions or 
sects in the world. All have their distinct beliefs and 
forms of worship. All claim that the Supreme Power has 
revealed to them certain facts in regard to this life and 
also in regard to a future life. All have recipes which 
they believe will insure an inheritance of eternal life in 
heaven. And most of them insist that unless their direc- 
tions are closely followed we are certain not only to lose 
that valuable inheritance, but also to be cast into a hell, 
which a certain clergyman down in Texas has told us is 
453 degrees in temperature. 

All of these sects have "proof" sufficient to their 
own satisfaction to convince themselves that their creed 
and form of worship are correct, and that they have the 
approval of the Supreme Power. They also believe, and 
stand ready to "prove," that every other sect is wrong. 
Brahmans believe that only Brahmans will enjoy the 
eternal state of happiness. Mohammedans believe that 



20 UNHAND ME! 

no Brahman or Christian, or, in fact, any one except a 
follower of Mohammed, will enjoy that eternal rest. 
Christians believe that "no man cometh unto the Father 
but by me," that no one but Christians will reach the 
"eternal City of God." And Roman Catholics, a branch 
of Christians, believe that no Christian can get to heaven 
unless he belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, and 
that all who die outside the Catholic Church are doomed 
to punishment in a hell of fire — superheated and eternal. 
Baptists refuse to eat the "Lord's Supper" with any one 
who has not been baptized by immersion, on the grounds 
that those who have not been so baptized have not 
obeyed the command of Christ and cannot therefore be 
regarded as in "fellowship." 

I ask the Mormons about polygamy. They answer 
that God countenanced it, and they point to Joseph 
Smith's writings, which they claim were God-given. I 
ask Christians, and they deny that the Supreme Power 
is in favor of polygamy. 

I ask the Mohammedans about their doctrines, which 
teach of sensual rewards after death. They reply that 
such is the case, that the Supreme Power told them so. 
Other sects differ from the Mohammedans, denying that 
the Supreme Power ever indorsed the idea. 

And so it goes, each sect believing that they are on 
the straight and only road that leads to heaven, while 
all the other sects are on the road that leads to hell. 
Christians look with pitying eye toward the black 
Dahoan in Africa bowing down before and worshiping 
his god, Dahoa (a snake), and they feel so sorry that he 
has never heard of Christ, because he is doomed to an 
eternal existence in hell unless he accepts Christ as his 
saviour. While at the same time, perhaps, that same 
black Dahoan is sorry — oh, so sorry — because Christians 
choose to ignore the great and only key to eternal rest— 
his great Dahoa. 



UNHAND ME! 21 

True, there is no comparison between the black 
pagan of Africa and the Christian of America, as far as 
intelligence and civilization are concerned. It is naturally 
to be expected that if either is correct as to his religious 
views, it is the one possessing the higher degree of 
civilization. And, of course, it seems almost inconceiv- 
able that any one could for a moment "believe," much 
less know, that by worshiping a captive snake it 
would insure eternal bliss. Yet it seems equally incon- 
ceivable to me that should that black Dahoan be an 
honest man and have lived a clean life, how his failure to 
accept the creed of some Christian sect is going to damn 
his soul to everlasting perdition. 

In other words, it is my firm belief that if a man 
thinks and acts right he will live right, and that if a 
man lives right he will die right, and that he need 
have no fear whatever in regard to any future existence 
into which he may pass after death — if, indeed, the grave 
be not the end of man. 

If all of these 1,000 different sects have "received as- 
surances from God" that only their followers will be 
found in heaven, and should all of these different sects 
be correct in their beliefs, there will of necessity be 1,000 
different heavens to suit the individual tastes of the vari- 
ous sects, though I suppose they would be willing to 
agree upon one hell for all, to be run on the club plan. 

Each sect claims to base its belief upon certain 
laws and rules of faith which it claims to have received 
from the Supreme Power direct. The fallacy and impos- 
sibility of such wholesale and contradictory "Words of 
God" are apparent. Either the Supreme Power must be 
made out to have told lies to certain persons, or else sev- 
eral so-called "Words of God" are in reality preposter- 
ous falsehoods conceived by men destitute of a sense of 
honesty and truth. Either the Supreme Power is dis- 
honest, or else certain creeds and beliefs are the inven- 
tions of unscrupulous men, who either for money or 



22 UNHAND ME! 

notoriety have claimed to be the "mouthpieces" of the 
Supreme Power. The impossibility of the Supreme 
Power's dishonesty being apparent, the latter deduc- 
tions become evident. 

Naturally the question arises as to which of these 
sects has the true "inspired" or "revealed Word of 
God." Great caution and a thorough research being 
necessary to enable a trustworthy answer, I have spent 
many years taking evidence on various beliefs. This 
has been done in an absolutely honest, fair-minded 
manner, the only object in view being to find out for 
myself the truth — the whole truth. I am not setting 
myself up as being the personal messenger of the Su- 
preme Power in regard to these matters. In issuing this 
book I simply claim the right as a member of the human 
race to give to my fellow-men that which in my inmost 
soul I believe to be the truth concerning religion and 
matters appertaining thereto. 

My search for truth has been worse than the tradi- 
tional search for a needle in a haystack. My conclu- 
sions are as follows : 

1. Every one of the so-called "Words of God" was 
invented by man — man-conceived, man-written and 
man-announced. 

2. The claims of inspiration from the Supreme 
Power are unproved in every case. 

3. A future spiritual existence is a mere conjecture, 
the wish being father to the thought. 

4. The divisions of eternity into heaven and hell were 
invented by man for the purpose of exacting obedience 
or tribute. 

5. All religions are a mass of philosophy and super- 
stition. 

6. Man does not know why he came into this world, 
or how long he is going to stay here, or how, when or 
why he is going to leave this world, or where, if any- 
where, he is going after death. 



THE COMPONENTS OF RELIGION. 

THE beliefs of all religious bodies may be divided 
into three component parts, as follows : 
1. Facts. 
2. Philosophy. 
3. Superstition. 
Under the head of facts we find the belief that there 
exists a Supreme Power. This idea runs through all 
religions. 

The subject of philosophy is discussed at length in 
the chapter entitled "The Mistake of Moses." 

The superstitions of religion may be subdivided into 
three classes — viz.: (a) Impossible, (b) Human and (c) 
Idealistic. Paganism contains very little of philosophy, 
but is composed almost entirely of impossible supersti- 
tions. Human superstitions figure largely in the Brahman 
and Mohammedan religions, although the impossible 
and idealistic superstitions are present to some extent. 
The idealistic superstitions are dominant in the Christian 
religion, while the impossible and human superstitions 
are more or less evident. 

impossible superstitions. 

(a). Impossible superstitions are those which are 
absolutely opposed to all laws of common sense and of 
nature-^those which exist without the slightest evidence 
of credulity. Among these I note the belief among 
the pagans of Polynesia that in making supplica- 
tions to the Supreme Power one should appear either 
in a cross-legged or crouching position. Plain com- 
mon sense tells us that such a belief is absurd. 
It is natural to suppose that a Supreme Power 
would look at the attitude of the mind toward him, 
irrespective of the position in which the body may 



24 UNHAND ME! 

be, it being non-essential whether the supplicant appear 
with bowed head or with head thrown back, whether 
with eyes closed or open, whether kneeling, lying down, 
cross-legged or standing on the head. The attitude of 
the mind toward the Supreme Power alone determines 
the value of the supplication, irrespective of whether the 
supplicant makes the sign of the cross on the forehead, 
or on the stomach, or not at all. 

The argument may be advanced that it is desirable 
to have a uniform mode of worship, and, since the 
manner of presenting the supplication is non-essential, 
that therefore I am not justified in criticizing. I main- 
tain that such customs are harmful superstitions, whether 
in vogue among the pagans of Polynesia or the Chris- 
tians of America. They w r ere invented by sagacious re- 
ligious leaders and were intended to awe the ignorant 
and mislead the intelligent. Rituals detract from the 
object in view; they draw away the attention of the 
mind and make it impossible to concentrate the thought 
on the supplication being presented; they tend to make 
such supplications a network of methods and motions 
rather than spontaneous outpourings of heart thoughts 
toward the Supreme Power; they tend to substitute uni- 
formity for earnestness. 

The pagans of Madagascar have a ceremony called 
maifura, which is as follows: A priest of one of their 
medical idols, Ramahavaly, sprinkles honeyed water 
over the people as they pass before him, at the same 
time crying out, "Take courage, you, your wives and 
your children. You have Ramahavaly; he is the pre- 
server of life, and should diseases invade he will sud- 
denly arrest them and prevent them coming near to in- 
jure you/' 

The pagans of Benin, Africa, on great occasions will 
kill a cock and offer its blood as a sacrifice to their idols. 
Other pagans of Africa give annual feasts to their idols, 
when thousands of cattle are sacrificed. 



UNHAND ME! 25 

The Mohammedans have a peculiar custom of pray- 
ing with their faces turned toward Mecca, which custom 
can be characterized as nothing less than an impossible 
superstition. 

The Roman Catholics have customs of blessing 
water, houses, trees, cattle, etc. They practice ajDecul- 
iar, meaningless rite of burning incense. But perhaps 
the most noteworthy impossible superstition of Catholi- 
cism is the "doctrine" of transubstantiation. The priest 
takes the bread and wine, "blesses'' it, according to a 
formula promulgated by the Holy See, and then sol- 
emnly declares that the bread and wine have been 
transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, 
not figuratively, but actually. Catholics hold that a mira- 
cle has been performed, that the bread on the tray before 
the priest is really the body — the flesh — of Christ, and 
that the wine is really the blood — human blood — of 
Christ. 

HUMAN SUPERSTITIONS. 

(&). The human superstitions are those relating to 
man and his passions. The most prominent human 
superstition among the Mormons is that unspeakable 
custom known as polygamy. They really teach that the 
Supreme Power was in favor of polygamy! Joseph 
Smith must have been intoxicated with uncontrollable 
sensuality when in 1843 he had the nerve to "report" that 
the Supreme Power had appeared to him and announced 
this method of connubial bliss. 

In Confucianism the most prominent human super- 
stition is the doctrine which teaches that after his death 
Confucius was transformed into a god. 

Mohammedanism teaches that Mohammed was a 
"prophet" of the Supreme Power. While Mohammed's 
life history is interesting and unusual, yet claims of his 
relationship with the Supreme Power are improbable. 



26 UNHAND ME! 

The Jews have a custom which is distinctly a human 
superstition. It is called circumcision. No orthodox 
Jew would think of omitting this ceremony, and yet its 
practice is an indirect accusation that the Supreme 
Power made an error in the construction of man. 

Christians have a ceremony called christening. Be- 
fore the newcomer has had time to begin to inspect this 
curious world into which it has been thrust, its loving 
papa and mama "feel it their duty" to take it to the 
clergyman, who dashes drops of water upon the head of 
the innocent babe, at the same time reciting a lovely little 
formula. It looks so nice, you know. Papa and mama 
feel proud of the little babe, especially if it doesn't cry. 
Did you ever look up the origin of infant baptism? You 
will not find it mentioned in the Bible. Nowhere, from 
Genesis to Revelation, is such an idea even hinted at. 
Its exact origin is in doubt, but after years of practice 
its observance was made obligatory upon the members 
of the early church, and it became an established 
"custom" which is in vogue even at the present day. 
There is about as much hard common sense in infant 
baptism as there is in the custom prevalent among the 
darkies of the South of carrying a potato in the pocket 
as a cure for rheumatism. While the observance of in- 
fant baptism is commonly supposed to bring about a cer- 
tain mysterious influence for good on the life of the 
babe, it has perhaps as much effect in that direction as 
has the potato on rheumatism. And yet infant baptism 
is regarded by Christianity as a solemn and sacred cere- 
mony. Christening is clearly a human superstition. 

The burning of incense, the doctrine of holy water, 
the blessing of houses, cattle, etc., the presence of statu- 
ary in the church, the bending of the knee upon entering 
the church, are all customs stolen from paganism. Dur- 
ing the battle for supremacy between paganism and 
Christianity in Rome during the early centuries the 
leaders of Christianity were enabled to overcome the op- 



UNHAND ME! 27 

posing forces only by resorting to a system of absorp- 
tion. Pagan ideas and customs, rituals and modes of 
worship were modified and adopted. Like Aaron's 
snake-rod it swallowed its enemies bodily. And the 
Roman Catholicism that we have to-day is by no means 
pure Christianity. It is a mixture of Christianity and 
paganism. The seed of the tree was the teachings of 
Christ, but paganism has been grafted into its branches, 
with the result that the fruit produced is neither like the 
original nor yet like the grafted, but rather a seedless 
affair that stands for bigoted religious intolerance. 

These absorbed customs and rituals which are now 
held sacred by the Roman Catholic Church were born in 
ignorance and superstition and nourished by leaders ac- 
customed to preying upon the credulity of man. 

The most important human superstition held by 
Christianity is the claim that Christ was the Son of the 
Supreme Power. Christ was an extraordinary human 
philosopher, according to certain accounts. He was 
born of woman because there was no other way for him 
to come into the world. He ate to sustain life because 
had he refused food he would have starved to death, and 
finally he died because he was of the earth, earthy. The 
claim of Christ to divinity is discussed at length else- 
where in this book. 

IDEALISTIC SUPERSTITIONS. 

(c). Next we come to the subject of idealistic super- 
stitions. Christianity abounds in superstitions of this 
nature. The personality of the Supreme Power, his 
court, his throne, his attendants, are all superstitions 
originally invented by man, perhaps for a good purpose, 
but later used by sagacious leaders to impose on their 
ignorant followers. The existence of spirits in the form 
of angels, the existence of heaven and hell, and their de- 
scriptions, the existence of the devil and the story of his 



28 UNHAND ME! 

being expelled from heaven — all such ideas are mere 
human inventions. 

These idealistic superstitions have been held sacredly 
by men for thousands of years, and solely for this rea- 
son: the idea of heaven as a reward for goodness and 
of hell as a punishment for badness appeals to the aver- 
age man's sense of justice. For instance, we see an old 
woman on the verge of the grave; she has devoted her 
life to helping those in need, to those in distress she has 
extended valuable advice, to the sick she has given her 
time and sympathy, and to the penniless she has given in 
her poverty. It seems perfectly natural for us to say: 
"When she dies she will go to her reward. " On the 
other hand, when we see a brutal father, who in a 
drunken frenzy has killed his little six-year-old daughter, 
pronounced guilty of murder, we make this comment: 
"Hell is too good for such a man." Human nature loves 
justice, especially for other people, if it is hard, and for 
ourselves, if it is pleasant. And the idea that the future 
existence is intended as a balance to even up the incon- 
sistencies of this life seems to strike a popular chord. 

But where is our proof that there will be a future 
place of rewards? The maker of the universe has 
deemed it wise to forbid man to look into the future, 
even as far as the fraction of a second. Not a person 
on earth to-day knows what is going to happen ten thou- 
sand years from now, nor one year hence, nor one day, 
nor even one minute from the present time. We may 
prophesy, but there is always the possibility that our 
guesses may be incorrect. "Something" is always hap- 
pening that overthrows the most carefully laid plans. 
The future is one large impenetrable interrogation mark. 
We guess, and we believe, and we hope, but we cannot 
state positively that we know the events of the future. 
There may be a heaven or there may not be a heaven. I 
do not know, you do not know, no one knows. The pres- 



UNHAND ME! 29 

ent is ours, the past is ours, but the future is as yet im- 
penetrable. 

Therefore, all "prophecies" in regard to a future ex- 
istence are superstitions. I have called these idealistic 
superstitions because, while based on a mere wish, yet 
they appeal to the average man's idea of the ideal. 

The Christian version of the after life might be called 
a "local" idea, for at least two-thirds of the population 
of the earth have never even heard of it. There is an- 
other belief, entirely dissimilar to the Christian version, 
that is held by many millions of people. I refer to the 
doctrine of the transmigration of the soul. This means 
that when a man dies his soul enters another being, 
which may be either animal or human. If a man should 
live a life of gluttony and brutality his soul when freed 
would likely enter a pig. Or, if a man lived a life of 
modest self-sacrifice, his soul might enter the babe des- 
tined to become a great statesman. If a man during his 
life had been a hard master, cruel to his employees, his 
soul would likely pass after death into the body of a babe 
destined to be a workingman, compelled to work under a 
cruel and arrogant employer. If a man during his life- 
time had been cruel to horses, in the next stage of his 
soul's existence we would find the tables turned; he 
would be in the form of a horse owned by a cruel man. 
If a man during his life had been a wife-beater, his soul 
would later enter a babe destined to become an abused 
wife. This is indeed a marvelous system of justice. 

The idea of transmigration of the soul is held by 
many millions of the earth's population to-day. We hear 
little about it over here in Christian America, but in 
other parts of the world the situation is reversed. The 
Christian idea is likely to become the most popular in the 
long run, because it is more idealistic. The average 
man would rather run the chance of squeezing into 
heaven for a long stay, than to be bothered by constantly 
wondering what animal his soul would inhabit next. The 



30 UNHAND ME! 

Christian idea makes man think that he is an embryo 
angel, a relative of the Supreme Power, while the trans- 
migration-of-the-soul idea teaches a certain relationship 
between man and the lower animals. But both theories 
are inventions of man; both are based not on fact but 
on imaginary hypotheses, the wish being father to the 
thought. Man desires to know the secrets of eternity, 
and sagacious religious leaders have attempted to supply 
the demand, not by producing the real article, but by 
substituting baseless yet popular theories. We often 
feel our anger rise when we are imposed upon by the 
shoddy clothing merchant, the adulterating groceryman 
or the substituting druggist, and should it not also make 
our temper rise when we cry for religious truth and re- 
ceive something "just as good"? 

The mere fact that a certain supposition is ideal does 
not necessarily indicate that it is also true. Our ideals 
are dependent upon conditions and environment, and are 
therefore changeable; but the truth cannot fluctuate 
even at the command of bishops or Popes or the Su- 
preme Power itself. 



MORMONISM. 

THE Mormons, also known as the Latter-Day 
Saints, are a distinct branch of Christians, 
and the doctrines which they hold were in- 
vented by Joseph Smith less than a hundred 
years ago. 

Smith was born in Vermont on December 23, 1805. 
His father, a farmer, finding his Vermont farm unprofit- 
able, moved to Palmyra, N. Y., in 1815, and four years 
later to Manchester, N. Y. When Joseph had reached 
his fifteenth year he seemed to have received his first re- 
ligious impressions. He examined into the claims of the 
various religious denominations, and, finding such a net- 
work of confusion and superstition, he retired to a secret 
place and asked the Supreme Power to tell him what 
to do. 

If Joseph had told the truth as to what really took 
place at that interview, perhaps he would have spent the 
rest of his days tilling the soil and the curse of polygamy 
would have remained unresurrected. 

Smith claimed that during September, 1823, an angel 
and messenger of the Supreme Power revealed to him a 
certain place where there were deposited certain golden 
tablets, upon which were written many heretofore un- 
known historical facts, together with messages from the 
Supreme Power to the Latter-Day Saints. 

The Book of Mormon is a wonderful work, but like 
all other so-called "Words of God" its origin is in doubt. 

Joseph Smith was an ordinary mortal, having come 
into this world according to the laws of nature, having 
existed physically in a manner exactly similar to that 
of other specimens of the higher order of animals, and 
having left the world through the agency of death. 
While in life he possessed an ordinary brain, with the 



32 UNHAND ME! 

usual convolutions, and containing the usual number of 
"centers." He possessed the usual five senses of seeing, 
hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting. The obtaining 
of daily bread was as serious and necessary a pursuit 
with him as with any one else. He had his bargains 
with the furniture dealer, his arguments with the coal 
man, and his disputes with the landlord. He built the 
fires in the morning, walked the floor at midnight with 
the baby, and mashed his fingers while putting down the 
parlor carpet. Joseph Smith was one of us — like you 
and me — flesh, bones and brain — a man. He was not 
free from influences of love or of anger. He possessed 
sufficient intelligence to discern right from wrong, and 
he possessed also the power to choose between them. 
He knew the difference between truth and untruth, 
between honesty and dishonesty. Influences of environ- 
ment and expediency were as strong, perhaps, in his life 
as in that of the ordinary man. He possessed certain 
virtues and also certain vices. He could be good or he 
could be otherwise. He could be honest as well as dis- 
honest, he could lie as well as tell the truth. The power 
to do either was his. 

HONESTY. 

And did you ever notice that telling the truth is 
sometimes harder than lying? The main reason why 
many people tell the truth is that when called upon to 
substantiate their statements it is so easy to do so. Gen- 
erally speaking, honesty is practiced not because it is 
right, but because it is the best policy. 

I do not mean that all men are, strictly speaking, 
liars, though I do claim that the ordinary man will 
avoid telling the truth when it is expedient to do so. 
Every one who has passed through this world has been 
more or less guilty of lying (babies and freaks excepted). 
The courts of the land presume that all men are liars and 
therefore they require an oath, sacred and retroactive. 



UNHAND ME! 33 

from every witness in cases brought before them. And 
should the witness be tdo young or otherwise incapable 
of comprehending the meaning of committing the crime 
of perjury he is not allowed to give his testimony before 
the court. 

Did you ever get caught in a lie? Mean feeling, is 
it not? You resolved to tell the truth next time, did you 
not? A specialist on fools once said to me: "Any fool 
can tell a lie, but it takes a wise fool to construct a lie so 
that it won't slap back." 

Bank cashiers handle many thousands of dollars. It 
is possible for them to misappropriate large sums if they 
are so inclined. They know that to possess money is to 
be powerful, that money will aid in obtaining almost 
anything on earth except life and a clear conscience. 
Did you ever stop to think why they do not take a for- 
tune for themselves from the vaults and settle down to 
a life of ease and pleasure? The main deterring influence 
is the consequences for themselves and for others. Dis- 
grace and imprisonment for themselves, disgrace and 
suffering for their families and mortification for their 
friends. Honesty is a commendable virtue, but a cash 
bond will go further toward securing recognition in the 
business, social or religious world than the possession of 
an abnormal phrenological honesty bump. The desire 
for wealth and influence is part of our natures. 

Some months ago a man of wealthy parentage, and 
who had been a student at Yale, entered a jewelry store 
in New York City. He asked to be shown certain ex- 
pensive diamond rings. The salesman placed before 
him a tray containing about $5,000 worth of the spark- 
ling jewels. In a moment he had snatched the tray. 
Unhindered he rushed through the street door. Down 
the avenue he ran, spurred on by the shrill "stop thief 
of scores who had taken up the pursuit. Swifter feet 
than his soon threatened to overtake him. Preliminary 
to a last desperate effort to escape, he turned, faced his 



34 UNHAND ME! 

pursuers and emptied the tray of diamonds in their path. 
The effect was magical. That brave, conscientious, law- 
abiding band of mortals, who had a moment before been 
so earnest in their efforts to see the dishonest citizen 
punished, stopped short and blackened one another's 
eyes in a wild scramble for possession of the gems which 
the dishonest citizen had attempted to steal. 

The dishonest citizen in this case, knowing full well 
the consequences of his unlawful act, had decided to 
"run his chances" of being caught, and the action of his 
pursuers brought out plainly the fact that dishonesty is a 
human trait. 

Our courts are busy dealing out a part of the "con- 
sequences" to dishonest citizens as a deterring warning 
to others who might otherwise be tempted to commit 
crime. 

A few years ago several rich and influential fellow- 
mortals, known variously as "leading citizens" and 
"pillars" of their city, who were interested financially in 
the acts of the Common Council of St. Louis, were con- 
victed and imprisoned for various crimes w r hich would 
all come under the head of dishonesty. They fully 
realized that they were dealing dishonestly with the city, 
and they also knew the "consequences" that would fall 
upon them if justice should be meted out, but it looked 
so "easy" that they decided to "run the chances." 

Dishonesty is a part of the human make-up. Deny- 
ing this fact does not minimize it. We might as well 
admit the fact and stop whipping the devil around the 
stump. Far better to face the matter, cut down the 
stump and do what we can to overcome the evil. To 
imagine that any man is a twenty-two-karat, triple-X 
bunch of inherent honesty does not make him so. If a 
man has both legs amputated, he cannot dance a horn- 
pipe, and for him to imagine that he can does not change 
the fact. To deny that man is dishonest does not mak^ 
him honest, but rather reflects the real character of man. 



UNHAND MEi 35 

As I have stated before, it is the "consequences" of 
dishonest acts which deter those who would otherwise be 
tempted. We have also seen that many are willing to 
run the chance of being detected to profit by dishonest 
acts. But suppose we eliminate the "consequences" — 
remove all chance of detection, disgrace and punish- 
ment — dismiss the police — abolish the courts — remove 
all locks and place your life and property at the disposal 
of whoever had the desire to take it. The fall of Jericho, 
the destruction of Carthage, the sacking of Rome, fur- 
nish but a small idea of the pandemonium and terror 
that would reign in our city and country should the 
human trait of dishonesty be freed from the shackles of 
"consequences." 

If some man of means takes exception to my views 
on this question, I would suggest an experiment that 
would undoubtedly determine how far I am right. As- 
semble ten thousand people, holding responsible posi- 
tions, in Madison Square, New York City. At one side 
erect an absolutely secret booth in which place one 
million dollars in ten-dollar bills. Form the assemblage 
into single file and allow them to pass one at a time into 
the secret booth. Post a notice similar to the following 
on the wall inside the booth: 

"This money is not yours. It is dishonest to take 
any of it. The owner has many millions more beside 
this and would not suffer if you should take -any of 
it. No one shall ever know should you take any of 
it, and no prosecution or disgrace will follow if you 
should do so." 

How much of that million dollars would remain after 
the experiment had been tried, or, rather, how many 
people would remain in line after the million dollars had 
disappeared? The "consequences" for crime act on a 
man as does the brake on a wagon: it checks but does 
not destroy the natural inclination. 



36 UNHAND ME! 

If I should come to you and say that the Brooklyn 
Rapid Transit Company had sent me to solicit subscrip- 
tions with which to purchase more cars and to equip 
properly that creeping disgrace with up-to-date appli- 
ances, and should you hand me your check for a hundred 
dollars, I would more than likely be compelled to spend 
a term in the dishonest man's retreat up the Hudson. 
And why? Because I had secured money upon false 
pretenses. The officials of that grasping corporation 
would testify that I had lied — had committed a crime — 
and the Court would proceed to attach his signature to 
my "consequences. " 

A POINTED SUPPOSITION. 

But suppose I should come to you and state that: 
"Last night while I slept, behold a sudden empty feel- 
ing came around about me and tickled my feet. A 
small, still, invisible voice shouted unto me, 'hocus pocus 
aber nit/ which, being interpreted, is to say, 'harken.' In 
obedience to the command I arose, bowed three times 
toward the kitchen and crossed myself. And then 
Gabriel (it makes no difference how I found out that it 
was he) said: 'The Lord commandeth thee to go to 
Paterson and call upon the people to repent, to put on 
green cheesecloth and black mosquito netting, for I, the 
Lord thy God, am about to break another dam up the 
Passaic/ " Suppose that I should obey the command, 
that my story should take, and the people should arise, 
ship their goods to places of safety and take out addi- 
tional insurance policies on their lives. Suppose that I 
should incidentally gather in my garner some fifty thou- 
sand dollars, that a big rain should fall, the Passaic be 
taxed to its utmost, and a large dam should break, send- 
ing down enough water to remove Paterson to the bot- 
tom of Newark Bay. What would be the result? 
Would any one think of sending me to Sing Sing? 
Oh, no. Why, the idea would be pronounced sacrilege. 



UNHAND ME! 37 

Instead of Sing Sing, I would be pronounced a true 
prophet and messenger of the Supreme Power, and per- 
haps after death I might be elected to a Sainthood. 

A man who has the nerve to father such a brazen 
falsehood as that certainly is entitled to the money so 
willingly given up by his dupes, and deserves distinction 
of some kind. And doubtless he would feel at home 
with "St." Catherine de Medici and other saints of lesser 
importance who have played important parts in the 
criminal history of the world. 

In the first case stated my claim that authority had 
been given me by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company 
to act as their agent was false and was so proved. In 
the latter case my claim that the Supreme Power had ap- 
pointed me as his minister would be false, but could not 
be so proved. 

If a man says that he has talked with the Supreme 
Power, his statement must either be accepted or rejected 
without corroborative proof of any kind. Notice par- 
ticularly that all so-called interviews with the Supreme 
Power which have taken place within the limits of cor- 
roborative history have been of a private nature. Being 
"alone with God" is often claimed by various persons. 
Yet whether the Supreme Power was really present or 
took part in the interview is, to say the least, unproved. 

If the Supreme Power should choose a certain man 
as a messenger through whom to deliver a message to 
the people, it would necessarily indicate that such a man 
was a godly man, practically perfect in living and ad- 
judged by the Supreme Power as competent to carry out 
his wishes. For a man tainted in character and impure 
in living would hardly be chosen for such an important 
office as bearing messages from the Supreme Power. 
Hence to "talk with God" at once stamps a man as hav- 
ing the approval of the Supreme Power. If the Su- 
preme Power delivers a message to a man for public cir- 
culation, calling for certain thoughts and acts from the 



38 UNHAND ME! 

people, it can plainly be seen that such messages are 
highly important and of incalculable value. Such mes- 
sages should be law to man, who is indeed the ''handi- 
work" of the Supreme Power. The Supreme Power 
will never give to the people frivolous messages or teach 
any non-essential doctrines. Therefore it follows that 
having received a message from the Supreme Power in- 
dicates that such a man not only has the approval of the 
Supreme Power, but that what he says, having been 
delivered to him by the Supreme Power, must be respected. 
It will thus readily appear that to claim to have 
talked with the Supreme Power would prove a big 
temptation to some people, provided an incentive of 
notoriety or wealth were involved. While such inter- 
views can not be proved, yet on the other hand they can 
seldom be disproved. We must either be doubters or 
believers. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. 

Joseph Smith claimed to have had an interview with 
the Supreme Power in which the Book of Mormon was 
given to him. It has since been proved that the Book 
of Mormon is a religious romance, or novel, as you 
please, written by Solomon Spaulding, a graduate of 
Dartmouth College, who was at one time a clergyman. 
While Joseph Smith was wearing his first pants Spauld- 
ing was out in Ohio writing his book. In 1812 he 
brought the manuscript to Pittsburg, Pa., and tried to 
induce a publisher by the name of Patterson to publish 
the work. Spaulding died before arrangements had 
been completed for the publication of the book. For 
fourteen years the manuscript remained pigeon-holed in 
Patterson's desk. Then Patterson died. In 1826 it 
passed into the hands of Sidney Rigdon, and he gave the 
unprinted volume to Joseph Smith. The fact that the 
book which Spaulding wrote and the Book of Mormon 
were one and the same is supported by the sworn state- 



UNHAND ME! 39 

ments of several persons who had read Spaulding's 
manuscript and also an authentic edition of the Book of 
Mormon. 

Joseph Smith, therefore, lied when he said that the 
Supreme Power had appeared to him and told him 
where there were buried certain golden plates on which 
were recorded a message from the Supreme Power to 
the public. It is also natural to doubt that Joseph Smith 
ever had an interview with the Supreme Power. No 
other course is left open to the thinking man but to pro- 
nounce Smith a religious fakir. The wrong which this 
man has done is incalculable. His crime is deeper than 
murder. Hundreds of thousands have depended on the 
teachings of this religious blackguard for eternal salva- 
tion. And if the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church 
that all who die outside that denomination are con- 
demned to everlasting perdition is true, then Joseph 
Smith may meet over a million of souls in hell who will 
point to him as the cause of their damnation. 

It being often impossible to prove the truth or un- 
truth of alleged interviews with the Supreme Power, it 
follows that should the Supreme Power desire to deliver 
a message to the people he would first convince 
the people that the source of the message was the Su- 
preme Power. Thousands have claimed themselves to 
be "messengers' of God/' and yet there is absolutely no 
proof that any of them were the messengers of the 
Supreme Power. They said that "God appeared to me 
and told me to tell you," etc. Now I realize that the 
absence of proof that the Supreme Power really did ap- 
pear as claimed does not necessarily prove the claim to 
be false, yet the opportunity for deceit along this line is 
so great that I believe that if the supreme power has 

ANYTHING TO SAY TO THE PEOPLE HE WILL TELL THE 
PEOPLE DIRECT. 

All persons, I believe, are (with due allowance for 
environments and hereditary taints) placed on an equal 



40 UNHAND ME! 

footing before the Supreme Power. And it seems highly 
improbable to me that he would take Tom, Dick or 
Harry off into some corner and whisper to him some 
message which he wants me to hear. 

It is just as easy for him to tell me as it is for him to 
tell you to tell me, and besides it would eliminate all op- 
portunity of doubt in regard to the matter. 

I am just as anxious to do the bidding of the Supreme 
Power as any one, and my refusal to accept any of the 
religions of the world is based on my belief in his 
omnipotence and impartiality. 



CHRISTIANITY. 

NEARLY two thousand years have passed since 
Christ's birth. History tells of the small 
beginning, the struggles for existence, the 
growth and final triumph of the religion 
launched by this wonderful philosopher. The 
Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages 
and dialects. Tens of thousands of missionaries have 
been sent to teach Christ and his religion to civilized, 
semi-civilized and even barbaric races of men. The 
army of Christ has advanced seeking to conquer the 
world, to culminate the unique spectacle of the entire 
world bowing before the memory of one great religious 
leader. Millions upon millions of dollars are being 
spent to establish the doctrine of "one Lord, one faith, 
one baptism." 

Why all this hubbub? First, because man the world 
over seems to have the idea that some form of religious 
worship is necessary; second, because the philosophy of 
Christ appeals to the civilized peoples of the world as the 
ideal, and, third, because of the natural progressiveness 
of civilized nations supplemented by the command of 
Christ to make his teachings universal. 

What is Christianity? The Christian claims that once 
upon a time the maker of the universe, seeing the sin- 
fulness of the people, sent his only Son from heaven to 
earth; that while here Christ launched the true doctrine 
of the Supreme Power, and that he afterward died for 
the transgressions of the world. 

I realize that to question the truth of these statements 
will be called sacrilege, and that to dispute a statement 
alleged to have been made by Christ will be regarded as 
blasphemy. But I also realize that questions of life, 
death and eternity are of such great importance to us 



42 UNHAND ME! 

all that the effort to clear up such points concerning 
which we are in doubt can not but add to our actual 
knowledge on the subject. 

Ordinarily we approach Christianity with a certain 
amount of uneasiness, with bowed heads, trembling 
limbs and apologetic minds. Then, awed by the appall- 
ing mystery of it all, we retreat. Some time ago there 
flourished a mysterious religion on one of the islands 
of our Philippine possessions. The leader was called the 
"New Pope," and claimed to be the representative of the 
Supreme Power. He had a "Sacred Altar" about four 
by six feet, in which he claimed was concealed a large 
sum of money in gold, together with the "laws of God" 
as given to the "New Pope." To such of his followers 
as believed, the money was to be distributed by the Su- 
preme Power after the believer's death, so that he might 
enjoy himself in heaven. In their worship they would 
approach the box on bended knees and then gaze rever- 
entlv on the "Sacred Altar." The father would take his 

ml 

son on his knee and tell him how the Supreme Power in 
his goodness had provided for their future — a future of 
eternal happiness. The boy grew up to be a man, and 
he, too, believed in the teachings of the "New Pope." 
He was happy, content to live, and when death came he 
died with a smile on his face and with visions of pros- 
perity and plenty in the world to come. The entire tribe 
believed implicitly in the teachings of their leader. To 
dispute with him or to question his motives was blas- 
phemy and was regarded as a crime punishable with 
death. 

When the American soldiers occupied the island they 
proceeded to investigate the contents of that "sacred 
box." And what do you suppose they found? Nothing 
but an old, out-of-date Spanish almanac. Had it not 
been for the interference of the unwelcome visitors it is 
more than probable that the religion of the "New Pope" 
would have been handed down from father to son for 



UNHAND ME! 43 

generations to come. But the interference of the sol- 
diers, while uninvited, revealed to the people that their 
leader had humbugged them, and that their religion was 
based not on truth, but on untruth. 

When I am called upon to accept Christianity I sim- 
ply demand proof that Christianity is the authorized 
teaching of the Supreme Power. And cries of blas- 
phemy and sacrilege will act as poor argument toward 
convincing thinking men. Instead of an appeal to sen- 
timent I demand an appeal to reason and common 
sense. 

You Popes, you bishops, you clergymen, you Sun- 
day-school teachers, you enrolled members of Christian- 
ity, throw down the garb of mysticism, remove the veil 
of ritualism, put away tradition, intolerance and super- 
stition, stand out boldly before the human race, whom 
you seek to save, and prove that your religion is God- 
given. I do not ask for proof that Christianity is ideal. 
If its source is the Supreme Power, it is "God's truth," 
and it is truth we seek and not idealistics. 

I have tried to approach Christianity with the one 
object of finding the truth always in view. I have ex- 
amined your Bible, I have carefully studied it from cover 
to cover, and I have found it to contain three elements, 
interwoven but distinct: 1. Hebrew almanac. 2. 
Philosophy. 3. Superstition. 

The statement that the Bible contains a Hebrew 
almanac and a more or less authentic history of the 
Jewish race is proved by a glance at the book. The 
philosophy referred to is that given by Moses, Solomon, 
Christ and other Hebrew leaders. 

That part of the Bible which details the personality 
of the Supreme Power, the direct dealing of the Supreme 
Power with the people, the divinity of Christ and the 
division of eternity into heaven and hell, I regard as 
hypothetical theories invented to sustain the Biblical 
philosophy and to invite sympathy and obedience to the 



44 UNHAND ME! 

doctrines promulgated by the early Christian leaders. 
Such theories are plainly unsustainable and are there- 
fore superstitious in texture. 

THE CHRIST. 

Let us glance carefully at the man who has been 
called the "Christ," "the Son of the Living God/' We 
find that he came into this world apparently according 
to the laws of nature. He had a father and he had a 
mother. He was wrapped in the customary swaddling 
clothes, he grew to boyhood and to manhood. He was 
composed of flesh, bones and brain, like you and me. It 
was necessary for him to eat in order to live. He taught 
a new philosophy — the equality of man. His success 
among the working classes brought forth the jealousy 
and wrath of the accredited religious leaders. He was 
hunted, captured and put to death. Briefly, we find that 
he was born of woman, that life was sustained in the 
natural way, and that death ended his career. 

The statement given in the Bible that Christ was con- 
ceived by the Holy Ghost in Mary brings up a rather 
delicate question, an extended discussion of which would 
in no wise aid in determining the exact parentage of 
Christ. The Bible merely makes the statement without 
offering proof of its accuracy. And yet upon this state- 
ment that Christ was "born of God" hinges the entire 
truth of the whole Bible. If this statement of Christ's 
nativity is false, then Christianity is a sham. If Joseph 
or any other man was responsible for Mary's condition, 
then Christ was not the "Son of God." 

But you will say that I can not prove that Christ was 
not conceived by the Holy Ghost in Mary. Very true. 
And now, on the other hand, it is impossible to prove 
that Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost. It is 
plainly an open question, proof of either contention being 
unobtainable. 



UNHAND ME! 45 

If I should make the statement that my former 
friend, John Jones, now dead, was conceived forty years 
ago by the Holy Ghost in a virgin three months before 
her marriage, you would refuse to entertain the state- 
ment unless accompanied by convincing evidence. But 
suppose it should be represented to you that unless you 
should accept my unproved statement about John Jones's 
nativity, you would be cast into a hideous, seething 
hell of damnation and fire after death. If I could con- 
vince you of the latter statement, you would readily ac- 
cept the former even without a scintilla of evidence. 

Thanks to religious freedom, people are taking a 
wholesome interest in the question of Christ's nativity. 
Even the clergy are inclined at times to jump the traces 
of "orthodox" slavery and assert what they — individu- 
ally — believe. In his Christmas sermon last year the 
Rev. Minot J. Savage, one of the foremost ministers in 
the metropolis, gave utterance to the following state- 
ment : 

"It was many years after the birth of Jesus before 
anybody thought of his being other than an ordinary 
man, born in the ordinary way — the whole idea of the 
Virgin birth and the incarnation is Pagan in its origin, 
and it was centuries before the church united upon any 
special day even for celebration of the coming of Jesus 
into the world." 

While a statement of this character, coming from 
such a thorough theological student as Dr. Savage, seri- 
ously contradicts the Bible, yet, of course, it does not add 
to our actual knowledge on the subject. Dr. Savage's 
statement is of peculiar interest, because it shows that he 
has been looking into the matter deeply. He is not 
content to preach a thing because he was taught that it 
was correct, but he preaches it because he has reason to 
believe that it is correct. 

The keynote of Christianity is faith. Paul says that 
by faith is man to be saved. Faith is belief without 



46 U N H AND ME! 

evidence. Belief is the outcome of what we think, and 
what we think depends upon environments. The Zulu 
is born and raised in Zululand; his environments are 
saturated with Zulu teaching, the result being that he 
believes in the Zulu religion. The Chinaman is born 
and raised in China; his environments are overwhelm- 
ingly Confucian; the result is that he believes in the doc- 
trines of Confucius. The Turk is born and raised in 
Turkey; his surroundings are distinctly Mohammedan; 
he believes in Mohammedanism. The American is born 
and raised in America, where everything is tinged with 
Christianity; the result is that he becomes a Christian. 

Perhaps you consider yourself an earnest Christian, 
and perhaps you stand aghast at my seeming blasphe- 
mous utterances; but, my dear friend, do you know that 
should you have been born to a couple of Hottentots 
down in Zululand, instead of attending morning mass in 
New York you would have been dancing a skirtless 
dance in reverence to the god Gounja Gounja? Perhaps 
not, but the odds are 25,000 to 1 that you would. 

Environments, then, determine our beliefs, and our 
beliefs form our religion. Here the great difference 
between religion and truth becomes apparent. Facts 
are the same the world over. The same facts are recog- 
nized in Zululand, in China, in Turkey, in America and 
in all other parts of the world. Environments do not 
affect facts. The normal man has ten fingers. The 
Zulu knows it, the Chinaman knows it, the Turk know r s 
it and the American knows it. And why? Because it is 
a proved fact. We know that the rain falls from above. 
The people of the whole world, irrespective of religion or 
environment, agree that the statement is true. But 
when you state that Jesus Christ was. conceived 
by the Holy Ghost in Mary three months before 
her marriage to Joseph, you are not offering a 
proved fact. You were taught to believe the statement 
by your parents, whose opinion you accepted with inno- 



UNHAND ME! 47 

cent faith; the statement was later impressed upon your 
mind by the Sunday-school teacher, and finally you read 
the statement for yourself in that mysterious book called 
the "Holy Bible." And you believed it. Why? Be- 
cause you were "raised up that way." 

The argument has often been advanced that Christ's 
birth was accompanied by miraculous events — the won- 
derful meeting of the three wise men from the East and 
their subsequent action in following the "star." We are 
also reminded that the blind were made to see, the deaf 
to hear, the lame to walk and the dead to rise by the 
simple command of Christ. And when Christ died dark- 
ness is said to have covered the earth, and that earth- 
quakes accompanied his dying agony. 

The life stories of all the ancient religious leaders are 
filled with alleged miraculous happenings. Buddha, who 
was born in India about five hundred years before 
Christ's time, and whose followers to-day number more 
than twice as many as Christ's, had a very propitious 
birth, according to the sacred books of the Buddhists. 
At his birth ten thousand worlds are said to have been 
filled with light, the blind were made to see, the deaf to 
hear, the lame to walk, the prison doors were broken and 
the prisoners set free, the trees burst forth in blossom, 
the birds began to sing, and even the fires of hell were 
for the time extinguished. When he was five days old 
108 Brahman priests came to see him, one of whom stated 
that he had received from heaven the information that 
the babe would grow to manhood and teach a doctrine 
that would redeem the world. When but a child, so the 
sacred books of Buddhism state, he was noted for his 
prowess, and he even taught his masters in the arts and 
sciences. Upon reaching manhood Buddha determined 
to start on his mission of saving the world. And as he 
was leaving his native city the devil met him and showed 
the pleasures of a life of ease and comfort in the city if 
he would but stay and put aside his wild ambition. But 



48 UNHAND ME! 

Buddha replied: "A thousand or ten thousand such 
honors as those which you mention have no charms for 
me; I seek the office of 'Redeemer of the World'; there- 
fore, get thee hence. " And it is said that the devil left 
him in great anger, determined to foil him. Later on 
he withdrew himself to the jungles and spent a long time 
in meditation and prayer. He led a charmed life in 
which the supernatural seems to have played an impor- 
tant part. Since Buddha lived about five hundred years 
before Christ it is not possible to entertain the thought 
that the story of Buddha's life was stolen from the Bible. 

Probably one-third of the population of the world 
believe that Confucius was the greatest man that ever 
lived. He was born in 550 B. C. in a cave in Mount Ne, 
China. Yen Ching Tsai, a noted wise man of that time, 
claimed to have been told by the Supreme Power that 
the birth of this great redeemer was at hand. Many 
strange signs and appearances also heralded his birth, 
and many angels are said to have been present when he 
was delivered from his mother. When fifteen years of 
age he began preparing himself for his life-work, and at 
twenty-two he had made himself famous. 

In 570 A. D. a great number of miraculous signs, ap- 
pearances, and voices from "heaven" disturbed the usual 
quiet of Mecca, Arabia. When it was all over, it was 
found that a babe had been born, who afterward proved 
to be the "prophet of God." At twelve, we are told, 
Mohammed realized that his mission was to save the 
world. When he was forty years of age the angel Ga- 
briel is said to have appeared to him while he was spend- 
ing a month in a cave, fasting and praying. Gabriel had 
a silken scroll in his hand and he bade Mohammed read 
the writing thereon. Gabriel gave Mohammed the title 
of "Prophet of God." Then Mohammed went forth 
teaching a new doctrine. The accredited religious lead- 
ers sought his life, but the Supreme Power is said to have 
intervened and saved Mohammed from his enemies. 



UNHAND ME! 49 

Later he led his followers forth to a battle in which 
three thousand angel warriors were sent down by the 
Supreme Power to aid Mohammed. Of course, the op- 
position were hopelessly routed. When Mohammed had 
been preaching for about twelve years, the Supreme 
Power took him up into heaven and expounded to him 
the beauteous wonders of Paradise. At another time 
his enemies surrounded the house in which Mohammed 
was staying in Mecca, but the Supreme Power miracu- 
lously carried Mohammed to Medina and thus saved his 
life. Later, Mohammed having been surrounded by his 
enemies, in a cave near Mecca, the Supreme Power is 
said to have struck his pursuers with blindness. The 
statements made above are recorded in the Koran, the 
sacred book of the Mohammedans, and are believed 
by 200,000,000 people to be true. 

Zoroaster, the prophet of the Parsees, lived about 
1200 B. C. The religion which he taught was based on 
the idea of one God. His philosophy exhorted men to 
incorporate these three ideas in their lives: pure 
thoughts, pure words, pure deeds. Zoroaster claimed to 
have had several conversations with the Supreme Power, 
in which questions were asked and answered and re- 
ligious matters discussed. These conversations form 
the foundation of the Zend-Avesta, the Bible of the 
Parsees. Zoroaster's birth and death were accompanied 
by manifestations of divine approval, according to his 
followers. 

Similar claims, by the followers of other religious 
leaders in regard to the lives of their founders, might be 
given. It is a fact that every religious leader of the 
olden times has claimed a certain familiarity to have ex- 
isted between himself and the Supreme Power. The 
followers of each claim their leader to have been born 
under propitious circumstances, that he was sent to 
earth to act merely as the mouthpiece of the Supreme 
Power, and that after death he was taken by the Su- 



50 UNHAND ME! 

preme Power and given an important seat near his 
throne in heaven. 

The claim of Jesus Christ to divinity must be viewed 
by the thoughtful student in exactly the same light as the 
claims of Buddha, Mohammed and others. The Bible 
of the Jews, the Tripitaka of the Buddhists, and the 
Koran of the Mohammedans are similar in their teach- 
ings — exhorting man toward purity of life. All of them 
relate alleged miraculous events in the lives of their re- 
spective leaders. It is quite likely that all such alleged 
miracles are exaggerations of simple events that grew 
as they were passed from tongue to tongue, until finally 
when, many years afterward, they were put into writing 
they bore but scant resemblance to the events as they 
really occurred. A partisan claim to supernatural power 
does not prove a religious leader's divinity. 

It seems inconceivable to me that if the Supreme 
Power had for thousands of years been promising the 
world to send a redeemer, he w r ould allow two thou- 
sand years to pass by after the redeemer had been sent 
without informing the world that his promise had been 
fulfilled. Christ has been dead nearly two thousand 
years, and yet two-thirds of the earth's population have 
not even heard of the event. Mohammed did not begin 
his religion until 610 A. D., yet the followers of Mo- 
hammed are as numerous to-day as those of Jesus 
Christ. In Mecca there is a Mohammedan Theological 
University in which there are 10,000 students being pre- 
pared to carry the faith of Mohammed to the utmost 
ends of the earth. From a standpoint of wealth the 
Christian nations are undoubtedly better prepared than 
the Mohammedan or Buddhist nations to contribute 
toward the spread of their beliefs. Millions of dollars 
are being poured by Christianity into the strongholds of 
Mohammedanism and Buddhism in Asia Minor, China 
and India in an effort to convert those people to the 
Christian faith. And progress is being made, but slowly. 



UNHAND ME! 51 

All results thus far attained can safely be attributed to 
the display of money, the hospitals and the schools. 
When Christian missionaries were first sent to these 
people they relied upon the "power of God" through 
faith in Jesus Christ to induce the people to accept 
Christianity. And one missionary spent forty years in 
India preaching and teaching before he was able to in- 
duce any one to accept his faith. But modern methods 
have worked wonders where the old-time religion was of 
no avail. In which case let us be consistent and place 
the credit where it belongs — to modern methods. 

The poor, ignorant native wants to learn; that is why 
he attends your mission schools. Or he is sick and calls 
at your hospital for treatment. By these means the mis- 
sionary gains the native's confidence and finally his 
friendship. The poor fellow feels grateful for the kind- 
ness shown him, and asks the missionary what he would 
desire in return. The missionary, of course, sees the 
opening and forthwith begins to tell the ignorant fellow 
what he thinks he knows about heaven and hell. The 
result is that the frightened native exclaims: "Me no 
wanna go to hellee!" He argues that he has had enough 
bumps in this world and consequently he decides on no 
hell for him in the hereafter. Another Christian is 
made — thanks to modern methods. 

The Bible states that the Supreme Power is no re- 
specter of persons, and yet it is claimed that he has 
confided to a select few the fact that his son had been 
sent to redeem the world. Doesn't it look rather par- 
tial? And what will the Chinaman think of the Supreme 
Power when he hears that Christ was sent to redeem the 
world (including China) two thousand years ago, and 
that the Supreme Power has kept the fact from him all 
these centuries? Seems as if the Supreme Power wasn't 
much interested in the poor Chinaman. The Chinaman 
will think that maybe the laws of heaven include a Chi- 
nese exclusion act! 



52 UNHAND ME! 

DID CHRIST COMMIT SUICIDE? 

There is another theory in regard to the death of 
Christ which appeals very strongly to the unprejudiced 
Biblical student. Was not Christ, by permitting the mob 
to lynch him, indirectly guilty of suicide? The Bible 
teaches that he was omnipotent, that he had it within his 
power to prevent his slayers from causing his death, but 
instead of exerting this pow r er he willingly permitted his 
enemies to execute their purpose. 

Suppose a man should find himself lying across a 
railroad track at a time when a fast train was approach- 
ing. Suppose, also, that this man had the power to rise 
from the track and prevent the giant locomotive from 
crushing him, and that instead of getting out of the way 
he should continue to lie on the track, that he should 
utter a prayer, close his eyes and wait for the mangling 
process to begin. Whatever may have been the man's 
motive in permitting the tragedy to take place, it would 
be plainly a case of suicide, if viewed from an unpreju- 
diced standpoint. 

The true deductions in regard to Christ's death per- 
mit of but two conclusions: Either Christ indirectly 
committed suicide, or else he did not possess the power 
to save himself, and was, therefore, not the "Son of 
God." It is claimed that Christ died to save the souls 
of men, but nowhere, in theological, natural or social 
economy, is it explained how or by what process it is 
possible that a physical death could prevent or even 
affect another person's spiritual death. And since the 
new psychology teaches us that there is no proof that 
man has a soul, which would preclude the possibility of 
either a spiritual existence or a spiritual death, those in- 
dividuals who are inclined to look upon Christ as no 
more than a religious leader should not — in all fair- 
ness — be regarded by their Christian brethren as mule- 
headed ignoramuses. 



UNHAND ME! 53 

THE PLAN OF SALVATION. 

The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved." Saved from what? Why, 
hell, of course. If you should be washed from the deck 
of a vessel at sea, and should a lifeline be thrown to you, 
what would you do? Ask the man at the other end of 
the line whether the line could be relied upon or not? 
Would you wait until a dozen or more lines had been 
thrown out so that you might select the one having the 
most pleasing shade of color? No; you would grasp the 
first line thrown and cling to it, because you wanted to 
be saved. Here we can see the reactive construction of 
the "plan of salvation," the basis being the desire of 
heaven and the dread of hell. Nature knows of no such 
places as heaven and hell. But religious leaders, taking 
advantage of human aversion to an empty eternity, have 
set up two imaginary extremes and called them heaven 
and hell, heaven being the extreme of pleasure, and hell 
the extreme of suffering. We are told that we will be 
permitted to pass to either place after death. Only one 
condition is required of those who would choose an ex- 
istence in heaven, and that is that they profess Jesus 
Christ to be the Son of the Supreme Power. 

I call special attention to the simple requirement, the 
enormous reward and the awful alternative. An end- 
less round of pleasure in heaven for believing that Christ 
was the Son of the Supreme Power, and an endless ex- 
istence of indescribable suffering in hell for refusing to 
believe that Christ was the Son of the Supreme Power. 
Could a greater incentive for becoming a Christian be 
invented? We have here the secret of the success of the 
Christian religion. It is a sort of get-rich-perhaps 
scheme — something for nothing. We are told to invest 
one little "belief" ("Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved") and the dividend, payable after 
death, will be an eternal existence in heaven. Do you 



54 UNHAND MEl 

wonder that thousands rush to take advantage of this 
wonderful offer, which we are told may be withdrawn at 
any moment? Christianity has been corralling investors 
for two thousand years. The list contains about 
200,000,000 names of investors now living. 

Why do the promoters of Christianity advertise to 
pay the dividend after death? Because it is the safest 
plan. If you die and don't get it, you can't come back 
and "squeal." Also please notice that all "indorsements" 
and "letters of recommendation'' which are shown the 
prospective investor were all written before death — prior 
to the date for payment of the dividend. 

The investment is so small and the promised dividend 
is so large that, to quote the hawker at Coney Island, 
"everybody buys." Of course, there are some weekly 
and monthly "assessments," such as clergyman's salary, 
running expenses, etc., which in the aggregate amount 
to about $380,000,000 per year (1900), but this is merely 
incidental. The progress of Christianity may be attrib- 
uted to a thorough system of organization, a cunning 
method of exacting tribute (the Lord loves a cheerful 
giver), and its enormous army of paid emissaries, such 
as clergymen, managing boards and missionaries. On 
the surface Christianity is a beautiful doctrine of love, 
but underneath we find a strong undercurrent of business. 
Fully 500,000 people in America to-day are dependent 
upon the tribute of Christians for their daily bread. 

THE BUSY MAN'S PLEA. 

Life is a constant hustle. We hustle from the cradle 
to the grave. We take the good things that come our 
way, and we try to fight shy of adversity. We invest 
heavily in the sure things and risk a dollar on the 
hundred-to-one chances, and if some fellow comes along 
with a billion-to-one chance we would invest whether he 
had his credentials or not. Since there is "nothing to 
lose" we might as well be on the safe side. If we win, 



UNHAND ME! 55 

we get a billion for practically nothing, and if we lose 
we will not miss it. 

As we rush from home in the morning to catch the 
elevated for downtown, constantly glancing at the watch 
to see if we can make it in time; or at 10 o'clock, just 
after the foreman had been inspecting our work and had 
reminded us that the job had been promised at 10.30; or 
at noontime, when we hurriedly washed half the dirt 
from our hands and later found that the white bread 
was soiled by our finger-tips; or at evening, as we rushed 
lickety-split down the street to catch that 6.10 express, 
this thought has entered our brain: "Was Christ the 
Son of the Supreme Power ?" And how do we treat the 
question? Do we rush off to the nearest library and 
take out all the books on history and religion and try to 
ascertain the facts for ourselves? Oh, no; instead, our 
brains evolve an answer like this: "I have joined the 
church, I have accepted Christ as my saviour, I have 
been promised eternal salvation, and I have been told 
that my name is recorded in a certain book in heaven 
which shows only those who will inherit eternal life. All 
this is mine if Jesus Christ is the Son of the Supreme 
Power. But if, after I die, I find that Christ was an im- 
postor, I believe that I w T ill at least fare as well as the 
men who during life refused to accept Christianity. And 
since I will not be the loser in either case, I regard it as 
a useless expenditure of time and energy to investigate 
the facts for myself." 

This may be a sound, logical conclusion, from a 
purely blind standpoint, but it does not reveal any of the 
essential "faith" on which Christianity is built. 

THE CAUSE OF THE DARK AGES. 

The progress of Christianity has been aided to a large 
degree by ignorance. Christianity was born in igno- 
rance. Christ's disciples were chosen from the ranks of 
the most ignorant. Saul of Tarsus seems to have been 



56 UNHAND ME! 

the only advocate of Christianity in its early growth who 
possessed any notable amount of learning, and he re- 
ceived his knowledge of Christ and his philosophy from 
hearsay, Christ having died several years prior to Paul's 
conversion. The flocking of people to Rome during the 
heyday of the Roman Empire naturally included some of 
the followers of Christ. The semi-democratic political 
tendency of the time proved it to be a favorable spot for 
the growth of the original Christian religion, especially 
among the poorer and necessarily more ignorant classes. 
Perhaps not more than ten per cent, of the Christians of 
Rome during the reign of Constantine could read and 
write. It necessarily follows that the other ninety per 
cent. — a vast, overwhelming majority — received their en- 
tire information concerning the Christian religion from 
their leaders. They could not investigate their doubts 
for themselves. When they did not understand certain 
statements made by their leaders concerning the teach- 
ings of this wonderful Jesus, they confided their doubts 
to their leaders, who were kept busy "strengthening the 
brethren/' 

Christianity seems to have progressed very rapidly 
once it gained a foothold. In Rome a compromise be- 
tween the Christian leaders and the leaders of paganism 
was arranged, which resulted in the birth of Roman 
Catholicism. Christ was the central figure of this curi- 
ous mixture, which was set off by an endless array of 
pagan rituals and customs. It reminds me of a Sixth 
avenue dish of clam chowder — you can smell the clams 
all right, but all you can see is a mass of chopped pota- 
toes, onions, parsnips, carrots, celery and cabbage. (I 
hope I haven't omitted anything.) 

After Christianity had gained the ascendency in 
Rome, its influence gradually spread throughout what 
was the civilized world. The leaders of this new com- 
bination of Christianity and paganism soon found the 
batteries of the educated classes arrayed against them, 



UNHAND ME! 57 

but it was like damming Niagara. The peculiar methods 
of organization, resulting in a complete subservience of 
the will of that great mass of ignorant followers to the 
will of their leaders, soon silenced all opposition. Those 
great universities of learning at Rome and in Greece 
were closed, the public schools were closed, learning was 
made a crime. Great monasteries were erected where 
none but priests were allowed to enter. The people be- 
came more and more ignorant; finally they were for- 
bidden to read the Bible for fear they would dispute with 
the religious "authorities." Heresy was made a crime, 
punishable by death, and a premium was put upon lying, 
theft, adultery and even murder. That period in the 
world's history when Roman Catholicism ruled the 
world is the blackest of the entire record. It was when 
the world was groping in its night of enforced ignorance 
that Roman Catholicism controlled the governments of 
Europe. Bear in mind that this abject ignorance of the 
masses was brought about by direct commands of the 
leaders of Roman Catholicism, arguing that the more 
ignorant people are the more pliable and easily con- 
trolled they will be. 

Roman Catholicism built up the most complete sys- 
tem of religious tyranny that the world has ever seen. 
The entire state and municipal governments were con- 
trolled, body and soul, by the despotic green-goods man 
in the Vatican at Rome. Laws, vicious in character, but 
bearing the approval of the Church, were unanimously 
passed by subsidized lawmakers, whose office and lives 
depended on the pleasure of crafty Rome. In the law- 
books of every nation of Europe at this time was written 
the following: "Failure to acknowledge the right of 
the Church over the acts and thoughts of the people is a 
crime punishable with death by torture." The Church 
did not stop with its success in having the laws passed, 
but carefully and religiously (?) saw that they were en- 
forced. Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of 



58 UNHAND ME! 

thousands of human beings in whom the desire for free 
thought had been born were thrown to wild animals, 
guillotined or burned at the stake. From the fifth to the 
eleventh centuries after Christ constitutes that period in 
the world's history generally known even to Christian 
historians as the "Dark Ages." It dates from the as- 
cendency of Christianity under Constantine to the time 
of Pope Innocent III, who proclaimed that he was the 
earthly king of kings, the sovereign of entire Europe. 
The Church had gradually bound the hands of the entire 
population, stifled their intellects, destroyed their love 
for freedom, branded their very minds with the mark of 
religious slavery. During this period Roman Catholi- 
cism was in charge of the governments, both municipal 
and national, and offered to the people the choice of 
three things: subservience to Roman Catholicism, 
tribute or death. The boasted intelligence of Greece, 
the dearly bought democracy of Rome, the very seeds of 
the brotherhood of man had been destroyed and forgotten. 
The world had gradually been forced back into abject 
barbarism. For nearly a thousand years Europe stag- 
gered, as though drunk, under the baneful rule of Chris- 
tianity. 

When Pope Leo X came to the Papal throne he 
found that his predecessors had almost exhausted the 
treasury. In order to increase the revenue he decided 
to put more life into the "indulgence" business. He de- 
creed that you could lie, steal, or commit murder, pro- 
vided you bought indulgence. This indulgence was a 
receipt which entitled the holder to enter heaven after 
death, provided his record was otherwise in accordance 
with the "infallible" rules laid down by the Church. You 
were supposed to present the receipt to St. Peter, when 
your train stopped at the Celestial City; he would cer- 
tify the Pope's signature and telephone the Recording 
Angel to check as paid for the crime that was charged 
against you. In Germany the Dominican Friars, an en- 



UNHAND MEl 59 

terprising set of religious leaders, obtained from Leo a 
monopoly for the sale of indulgences in that country. A 
Friar, named Tetzel, was elected president and general 
manager of this Indulgence Trust. He ran a regular 
"sin" clearing-house. He acted as wholesale distributing 
agent for the commodity (which was sold at so much 
per, like a loaf of bread or a pound of cheese); he col- 
lected the trust's share of the filthy lucre obtained from 
the deluded people by the retail agents. 

But Tetzel had troubles of his own. Another set of 
Friars, known as the Augustinian Friars, became jealous 
of the trust's prosperity, and for a long time the trust 
and the independent combine were sawing at one an- 
other's necks. While this fight for the deluded people's 
money was going on, a brave man — Martin Luther, 
Professor of Theology in the University of Wittenberg — 
sprang into prominence. This man stands out in his- 
tory as a beacon light. That memorable day in 1517, 
when he nailed his ninety-five theses on the church 
door, marks a dividing line between the forced barba- 
rism of Christianity and modern progress. The Diet of 
Worms (1521), the Diet of Spires (1529), the Diet of 
Augsburg (1555), the defeat of the Spanish Armada 
(1588), and the Edict of Nantes (1598) are prominent 
stepping-stones that mark the downfall of Roman 
Catholicism and the progress of religious freedom. 

In France (1572) the opposition to Roman Catholi- 
cism had grown quite formidable, in spite of ostracism, 
torture and assassination. In fact, it looked as if the 
reformers were going to accomplish the downfall of 
Roman Catholicism in that country. The Church, al- 
ready drunk with human blood, planned a coup d'etat 
which well illustrates the depths into which the phi- 
losophy of Jesus had been dragged by the leaders of that 
body of hypocrites which styled itself "the Church of the 
Living God." Catherine de Medici, who was at that 
time practically in control of the government of France, 



60 UNHAND ME! 

forced the sovereign, Charles IX, to sign an edict which 
was in effect a decree of extermination for all those op- 
posed to the authority and tyranny of Papacy. In the 
dead of the night (August 23, 1572) the tocsin was 
sounded throughout Paris. The emissaries of Rome 
sprang to their bloody work. Ten thousand defenseless 
people were murdered in their beds by order of the "in- 
fallible Vicar of Christ. " For several days the savage 
slaughter went on until 65,000 people lay motionless in 
death — a fitting testimonial to the hellish savagery of 
barbaric popecraft. 

Was the omnipotent Supreme Power the author of 
the religion that made possible the horrors of St. Bar- 
tholomew's Day? 



THE MISTAKE OF MOSES. 

RULES for living which are economic and expe- 
ditious are to be found in great numbers in the 
Bible. Undoubtedly most of the philosophy- 
presented by Moses and other Jewish religious 
leaders, taken as a whole, is as high and as 
pure as the world has ever seen. In Exodus 20:1-17 
Moses gives a code of morals which he claims to have 
received from the Supreme Power. Stripped of their re- 
ligious cloture they may be summarized as follows: 
That the worship of idols is useless; that swearing does 
not benefit; that regular periods of rest should interpose 
between regular periods of work; that it is the duty of 
children to respect and value the counsel of their parents ; 
that the taking of another's life is pernicious and re- 
active; that adultery is wrong; that theft is never justifi- 
able; that lying is cowardly, and that envy and covetous- 
ness often lead to transgression. 

In the main these deductions appeal to the best ele- 
ment in man's nature. The seeker for truth, in his wan- 
derings over the sea of religious thought, can here cast 
anchor, for a sufficient trace of truth is present to war- 
rant further exploration. Moses claims not only that 
the Supreme Power was the source of this philosophy, 
but that the words themselves are verbatim of those 
which the Supreme Power wrote with his own hand and 
intrusted to Moses for circulation among the Children 
of Israel. 

In order to get the entire truth in regard to the matter 
it would be necessary to ask Moses a few questions. But 
since circumstances render such a course impossible, I 
suppose I shall have to be content with merely stating 
them : 



62 UNHAND ME! 

1. Moses, the ten commandments which you have 
recorded in the Bible, and which you state were handed 
to you by the Supreme Power personally, are almost 
identical with a summary of the teachings found in the 
Vedas, the ancient religious books of the Hindus. These 
Vedas were written many centuries before you were 
born. Is it not possible that you copied your philosophy 
from these books? 

2. Your conception of the personality of the Su- 
preme Power is identical in almost every detail with 
that held by the Chinese hundreds of years before you 
were born, the ancient Chinese theory of the personality 
of the Supreme Power being as follows: 'The author 
and preserver of all things; the principle of everything 
that exists; eternal, immovable and independent; his 
power knows no bounds; his sight equally comprehends 
the past, the present and the future, penetrating even to 
the inmost recesses of the heart. Heaven and earth are 
under his government; all events are consequences of 
his will; he is pure, holy and impartial; wickedness of- 
fends his sight; but he beholds with an eye of compassion 
the virtuous actions of men. Severe, yet just, he pun- 
ishes vice, even on the throne; good, merciful and full of 
pity, he relents on the repentance of the wicked. Calami- 
ties are only salutary warnings, which his fatherly good- 
ness gives to men to induce them to amend. ,, (This 
passage is taken verbatim from these books written hun- 
dreds of years before Moses's time, and were available 
when Moses is alleged to have received his divinely in- 
spired "Word" from heaven.) Moses, is it not possible 
that you pilfered your ideas concerning the personality 
of the Supreme Power from the above source? 

3. In the Bundehesh, the "Old Testament" of the 
heathen Fire Worshipers, which was written centuries 
before your time, it is related that in a certain garden the 
Supreme Power placed the first two human beings. In 
that garden were two trees, the juice of which would 



UNHAND ME! 63 

give immortality to those who drank it. God forbade 
the two inhabitants to touch the tree. But, the story 
goes on, the devil, in the form of a serpent, appeared and 
tempted the woman, the result being that Adam and 
Eve were guilty of sinning and were driven from the 
garden. Moses, your account of the lives of the alleged 
first two human beings bears such a close resemblance to 
the one given in this book of the heathen sect referred 
to, and since your account was written many centuries 
after the Bundehesh, is it not possible that you pilfered 
the story you relate in the Bible from this source? 

4. Moses, your account giving the method by which 
the Supreme Power made woman is so unlikely that I 
desire the authority for your statements. 

5. Science proves conclusively to us that the world 
is many millions of years old. Produce your authority 
for the statements which you make in Genesis in regard 
to the method and manner of the creation of the earth. 
(Note. — Since the world was made so many million 
years before man appeared on earth, it is impossible to 
produce any evidence corroborative of Moses's account.) 

6. The earth is only an infinitesimal part of the uni- 
verse. There are millions upon millions of other celes- 
tial bodies as large and lareer than the world, yet you 
state that while it took the Supreme Power two days to 
get the earth in shape it was necessary to devote only 
one day to the making of the stars. In fact, you refer 
to the making of the stars as merely incidental. Is it not 
possible that you borrowed part of your story of the 
creation from the Chinese and manufactured the re- 
mainder to give it a touch of originality? 

HAS TIME LIMITS? 

Considerable argument has been advanced upon the 
question as to whether science and the Bible agree from 
a geological and astronomical standpoint. I have no 
desire to rehash the old arguments or to go into a crit- 



64 UNHAND ME! 

ical discussion of the subject. Instead I shall examine 
in detail the statements made in the first verse of the first 
book of Moses's writings — Genesis 1:1. 

In beginning his narrative of "inspired" facts con- 
cerning prehistoric conditions, Moses makes this state- 
ment : In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth. And here Moses has made two misstatements. 

There was no beginning. Eternity is without begin- 
ning or end. It is from the everlasting to the ever- 
lasting — forever. Its existence has no limits. The uni- 
verse has existed from the limitless past and must exist 
throughout the limitless future. A beginning neces- 
sarily indicates an ending. A beginning is the accidental 
or natural production of a condition which must of ne- 
cessity collapse when the power which is responsible for 
its maintenance is spent or withdrawn. Eternity not 
only refers to the future, but also to the past. 

The birth and death of conditions are inseparably 
linked, though separated more or less widely by periods 
of "existence" or activity. You go for a walk. First 
you lift your foot, then it is lifted over a certain space 
and finally it is placed on the ground. Here we see the 
beginning of the step, its period of existence, and then its 
ending. A second step is then taken, and a third, a 
fourth, and so on, each step having its distinct compo- 
nent periods of existence. Finally the last step is 
taken, and the journey which had been begun has its 
ending. So it is with everything in this life. History is 
a record of actions begun and ended, of men who have 
been born and who have died, of kingdoms which have 
risen and which have fallen, of ideas revered and for- 
gotten. But not so with eternity, which has no such 
periods of existence. Yesterday, to-day and forever are 
one interminable cycle. Our so-called "division of time" 
into seconds, minutes, hours, etc., is merely a system 
established for convenience; but time itself has no such 
division. Our little earth revolves on its axis and inter- 



UNHAND ME! 65 

mittently shuts out the sunlight, but it is erroneous to 
suppose that time is thus divided into sections or atoms 
of existence. 

Eternity is commonly supposed to be a thing of the 
future, to have its beginning at the remote time when the 
world shall have passed away. But not so; we are living 
in eternity now. Our ancestors were living in eternity 
and our posterity will be living in eternity. Men come 
and go, nations rise and fall, worlds form and disap- 
pear, suns burst forth and go out, but time — eternal 
time — is not thereby decreased. Bale the water from 
the ocean, bottle up the atmosphere which envelops the 
earth, scatter to the four winds the soil upon which we 
tread, and then Father Time will be as young as when 
your task was begun. "In the beginning" is therefore 
impossible. 

THE "CREATION." 

The last portion of this first verse of the Bible states 
that "God created the heaven and the earth." There 
is no doubt in my mind as to an omnipotent power being 
responsible for the existence of the heavens and the 
earth. But that the Supreme Power "created" them is not 
borne out by the known facts in regard to such matters. 
"To create" in the sense used means to make something 
out of nothing. But science has proved to us that the 
earth is a mass composed entirely of the skeletons of 
former worlds. Instead of being specially "created" it 
is merely a made-over world. 

Matter is indestructible and therefore never underwent 
creation. Science has been able to divide matter into 
molecules and atoms. These atoms can be detached and 
compounded, transformed from solid into liquid, from 
liquid into gas and from gaseous matter back into the 
solid or liquid form, but not one atom can be destroyed. All 
the chemists on earth, with all their wonderful knowl- 
edge, cannot take a single molecule of water and destroy 






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EVOLUTION 



68 UN HAND ME I 

it, or even destroy any part of its component atoms. 
The existence of matter is therefore eternal — without be- 
ginning or end. 

In order to prove that Moses's conception of prehis- 
toric astronomical events was erroneous, I shall refer the 
reader to what is commonly called the Nebula Theory. 
In Plate I we see the solar system as it is at the present 
time, the sun in the center acting as a fountain of light, 
heat and energy and also as a common hub for the orbits 
of the nine planets. Nearest to the sun we see Mercury 
— 35,000,000 miles distant — the smallest and most re- 
cently formed of the known planets. It travels around 
the sun in 88 days, or at the terrific speed of 30 miles per 
second. Next is Venus — 60,000,000 miles distant from 
the sun. A little older than Mercury, it takes 225 days 
for Venus to complete its trip around the sun, or at a 
rate of 22 miles per second. 

Third in order — and about 92,000,000 miles distant 
from the sun — we find a little ball, about 25,000 miles in 
circumference, which is commonly called the Earth. It 
was on this little planet that a certain wise man named 
Moses once lived. Here also a Chinaman by the name 
of Confucius lived. A Hindu by the name of Buddha 
is also reputed to have passed a short but eventful 
time upon its surface. Among others too numerous to 
mention were Solomon, Jesus Christ, Mohammed. 
Joseph Smith and Alexander Dowie, the last-named of 
which has previously made two trips to the merry little 
planet and who is now making his farewell tour. It takes 
365 days for the earth to complete its trip around the sun, 
traveling at a rate of 18 miles per second. Next we see 
Mars, the nearest of the superior planets to the earth. 
It is 140,000,000 miles distant from the sun. It takes 
CSS days to traverse its orbit, traveling at 15 miles per 
second. Mars is older than the earth and is fast becom- 
ing unfit for habitation. Its supply of moisture is be- 
coming less and less, it being necessary for the inhab- 



UNHAND ME! 69 

itants to dig huge canals and force water for thousands 
of miles. (I have often wondered whether the canals 
were built by private corporations or by the municipali- 
ties, whether they had a water trust similar to our 
Standard Oil trust with their monev-mad Rockefellers, 
Rogerses and Belmonts.) 

Next we come to the speedway of the solar system, 
where there are no laws against speeding (reckless auto- 
mobilists please take notice). About 150,000, more or 
less, little chunks of matter, varying in size from pebbles 
to 600 miles in diameter, are rushing around the sun. 
These little rocks are no doubt the remains of a former 
planet, whose size was probably smaller than the earth. 
Next in order of distance from the sun we find the giant 
planet Jupiter. This planet is older than any of those 
previously mentioned, but it is so large that it has not 
yet sufficiently cooled to allow plant or animal life to 
exist thereon. Great clouds of heat-laden moisture sur- 
round the planet and effectually prevent the searching 
eye of the telescope from revealing much that otherwise 
might be learned concerning it. But its heat is slowly 
passing off, and some day — millions of years hence — a 
little protozoan will begin to wiggle, acting as a fore- 
runner of the evolutionary epochs with which we are fa- 
miliar. Jupiter is 475,000,000 miles distant from the 
sun, and goes gliding along through space at the rate 
of about 9 miles per second. 

Next comes Saturn. It is older than Jupiter, and is 
872,000,000 miles from the sun. It moves through space 
at the rate of 5 miles per second. Saturn is the picturesque 
planet, eight moons playing "ring-around-the-rosie" 
with the old fellow, while a series of rings, always on the 
go, use him for a common hub. The rings, though ap- 
parently a cloud of much density, are in reality composed 
of millions of little moons, or, rather, each ring repre- 
sents a former moon which has broken up into small bits 
which continue to circle around the planet. Tt is 



70 UNHAND ME! 

quite probable that Saturn is inhabitable, though the dis- 
tance is so great that we are unable to determine with 
any degree of certainty. Further out we see Uranus, 
which is so far away that comparatively nothing is 
known concerning its condition. Though, since it is 
older than any of the planets that I have mentioned, and 
since in size it is smaller than Saturn, it is less likely 
to be inhabitable. It is 1,75-1,000,000 miles from the sun. 
It completes its journey around the sun in 84 of our 
years at a rate of about 4 miles per second. Neptune, 
the oldest of the known planets, comes next. Its dis- 
tance from the sun is 2,750,000,000 miles, being further 
than any of the other planets. Neptune, though being 
a little larger than Uranus, is so much older that it is 
probably not inhabitable. It completes its orbit of the 
sun in 165 of our years, and at the rate of about 3 1/3 
miles per second. 

This is about the condition in which we find the solar 
system at the present time. Suppose we look forward 
a few million years. Plate II will explain the probable 
condition of our little group of worlds at that time, which 
for convenience we will call "Epoch Plus-One." The 
sun has shrunk considerably. Its power as a source of 
heat and light has appreciably diminished. Several 
small planets have been thrown off and the power of the 
sun having become less the new planets have been 
thrown only a short distance. Mercury has lost its gase- 
ous atmosphere and settled down to that intermediate 
age when strenuous human beings take possession. 
Venus also has not only become inhabitable, but human 
beings have advanced to that momentous stage of dis- 
cussing the value of teachings of men similar to Jesus 
Christ, Mohammed and Confucius. Theories and be- 
liefs about spiritual and material matters are being grad- 
ually broken down by discoveries of facts as revealed in 
the sciences. 



UNHAND ME! 71 

The earth has changed also. The moon has 
crumbled at last, but goes faithfully on circling around 
his ancient mother. On the earth we find many changes. 
The oceans have receded toward the poles. The equa- 
tor falls on nothing but land. But the inhabitants have 
not been idle. Many great canals have been dug so 
that water can be forced to all parts of the world. Many 
problems which perplex us to-day will have been solved 
and forgotten. 

Poor old Mars has become a fossil. Life is extinct; 
vegetation went first, then the artificial methods invented 
by the Martians to prolong existence have proved in- 
adequate. The Speedway of the solar system will be 
still a speedway, but its individual parts will have crum- 
bled up into very small pieces and become almost in- 
visible. Jupiter has cooled down. Vegetation has begun 
to appear. One of its moons has crumbled, but the 
others hold their own. Saturn has added more "rings," 
its remaining moons having broken up. Uranus still 
keeps on his course, but his moons have broken up. 
Neptune has become unable to hold together, and a new 
"speedway" has been formed. 

Plate III shows the probable condition of the solar 
system at that future date which we shall call "Epoch 
Plus-Two," millions of years after that depicted in 
Plate II. The sun, it will be noticed, is smaller. Its 
light and heat have also diminished. Many bits of white- 
hot substance have been thrown off, which are gradu- 
ally forming into future planets. Mercury has reached 
the heyday of its existence. "Prophets," "teachers" and 
"messengers of God" have come forth. The mystery of 
existence has been artfully used and the inhabitants of 
Mercury have given up their time, their money, their all 
and blindly follow the "doctrines" invented and fostered 
by their hypocritical brothers, without which no world 
is complete. Venus has reached her "canal" period. 



72 UNHAND ME! 

Impenetrable silence reigns on the old earth. The 
end of human existence has come. Life of all kinds has 
passed away. The atmosphere has disappeared. The 
shrug of the forest oaks, the caw-caw of the flying crow, 
and the ding-a-lang of the blacksmith's anvil will have 
been heard for the last time, and the world will have set- 
tled down to wait — wait — wait for the final consumma- 
tion. Mars has reached the crumbling period. Jupiter 
is having his first lot of human beings. (Here's success 
to the sons of the giant planet!) Its other moons have 
crumbled. Saturn is undecided whether to crumble or 
not. Its rings will have become less dense and more ex- 
tended. Uranus has broken up, and in obedience to the 
laws of nature continues to circle around the sun and 
await the final end of our solar system. The fragments 
of Neptune have become smaller and smaller. 

Plate IV depicts the ravages that another epoch of 
time will have had upon the solar system. The sun 
has become a small red ball, surrounded by an innumer- 
able horde of small planets. Mercury has reached its 
canal period. All life has become extinct on Venus. 
The earth — that small piece of real estate which Napo- 
leon sought to manage and which the Standard Oil Com- 
pany tried to steal — will have crumbled. On Jupiter 
they have begun to discuss the various religions of the 
"Sons of God" and other "prophets." "Divine mes- 
sengers" will be working overtime in their eagerness to 
grasp the almighty dollar, and the inhabitants of Jupiter 
will be asking themselves whether after all the "proofs" 
and counter proofs, all religions are not humanly in- 
vented fakes. Saturn has broken up housekeeping, and, 
mingling with the fragments of her former moons, she 
goes circling around the sun. 

Another jump of a few million years will probably 
find the solar system arranged as in Plate V. Mercury 
has crumbled, leaving only the barren Venus and the 
mighty Jupiter. On the latter planet life will have be- 



UNHAND ME! 73 

come a burden. The scarcity of water and the rarity of 
the atmosphere will call for the best inventive genius of 
that age to prolong the existence of the flickering spark 
of life. 

In Plate VI the next decisive step in the progress of 
dissolution is seen. All the planets have crumbled, but 
continue to circle around the once mighty sun. 

Ages pass in which the only appreciable change will 
be the tendency of the fragments of the former 
planets and moons to become smaller and smaller until 
the solar system will appear as a large cloud of pulver- 
ized matter circling around a red globe. Each of these 
pulverized particles of matter is in turn divided until the 
solar system becomes a rarefied mass of molecules (see 
Plate VIII), and finally each molecule will divide into 
its component atoms. 

Here we have the complete consummation of the 
former solar system. Here is the dividing line between 
the end of the old and beginning of the new T solar system. 
The sun which had maintained such a wonderful influ- 
ence over the particles of matter that formed the old 
solar system is at last extinguished. The freed atoms 
rush toward a common center. This centripetal tend- 
ency will cause the mass to inaugurate a revolving mo- 
tion. The whirling mass will become more dense. 
Under the great pressure atoms will combine forming 
new molecules, the friction of which will produce heat 
and light. And trillions of miles away on some planet, 
a member of some other solar system, an enthusiastic 
astronomer will announce to his associates that a "new 
nebula has appeared." (See Plate VIII.) The tend- 
ency of the mass of rarefied matter to be attracted to- 
ward the center will cause it to become more and more 
dense. The natural tendency to be attracted toward the 
center of the nebula being overcome by reason of the 
rapidity with which the outer edge of the nebula is forced 
to move, a certain portion flies ofif into space. When 



74 UNHAND ME! 

this portion reaches that point in space (Plate X), where 
the tendency to fly off and the tendency to be attracted 
toward the common center have been neutralized, it con- 
tinues to circle around the parent body in the form of a 
ring. By a natural process a center of attraction is 
formed in this ring which causes the mass to assume the 
shape of a nebulous ball. This centripetal action on the 
part of the truant portion of the nebula evolves a condi- 
tion similar to that of the parent body prior to the flight 
of the truant portion. In other words, the outer portion 
of this revolving truant portion is subsequently thrown 
off into space. (See Plate XI.) The same laws that 
govern the actions in the first instance apply here also. 
This new portion takes its place at that point where the 
tendencies to fly away and to be attracted have been 
neutralized. 

Millions and millions of years pass away, punctuated 
at intervals by the separation of rings from the nebula 
and their subsequent formation into spherical-shaped 
bodies which will circle around the parent nebula, the 
farthest away being the oldest in regard to separation 
from the center of the system. At first these newly 
formed bodies shine by their own light, but they gradu- 
ally lose their heat and become more and more dense, 
until w r ere it not for the reflected light of the central body 
their existence would become unknown. Plates XI and 
XII explain at a glance the formation of a new solar 
system, the number, size, location and condition of the 
various planets and moons being, of course, imaginative. 
But by no means could their existence be attributed to 
chance. On the other hand, were it possible to know 
all the laws of nature it. would be comparatively easy to 
calculate the time when a future planet would begin its 
separation from the parent nebula. We would also be 
able to determine the distance that such a future planet 
would be placed from the future sun. We would also be 
able to state the weight of the newly formed planet. 



UNHAND ME! 75 

Because we are unable now to determine the exact 
condition of the solar system one hundred million years 
from now is no reason why we should decide that such 
a proposition is unanswerable. It rather denotes that 
the knowledge which we possess is limited. In the 
few thousands of years that the human race has 
maintained its supremacy over the other animals, we 
have by observation, experiment and research discovered 
a large number of facts. But there are many more as 
yet undiscovered facts, and for ages to come man will 
compete with man in heroic efforts to grasp truth — more 
truth. While our knowledge is great, yet our ignorance 
is doubtless greater. 

In speaking of those things of importance concerning 
which we know nothing, we use the hypothetical, "I be- 
lieve." We say, "I believe it will rain to-night." This 
means that, judging from the appearance of certain con- 
ditions which seem to us to exist prior to rains, the indi- 
cations are that rain will fall. The hypothesis appears to 
us to be all right, but how often does the result prove 
that our hypotheses were imaginative? On the other 
hand, our well-regulated Weather Bureau is able to 
state with almost absolute accuracy the condition of the 
weather for to-morrow. The reason is simple. The 
Weather Bureau possesses many facts concerning which 
we are in ignorance. While our predictions are based 
on hypothetical "thinks" and "believes," the predictions 
of the Weather Bureau are based largely on facts. Some- 
times the weather man misses it, but the reason for his 
failure to predict correctly was because there existed 
certain facts concerning which even the Bureau was in 
ignorance. Ignorance and failure are inseparable. 

That there are facts which we shall never know, I am 
unprepared to express an opinion. That there will come 
a time when all the problems of life, death and eternity 
will be solved is in itself problematic. Our store of 
knowledge is being constantly added to, but since we are 



76 UNHAND ME! 

unable to state (a) how much we have yet to learn, (b) 
how much time we have in which to learn it, and (c) the 
rate at which we will be able to obtain, absorb and apply 
the knowledge that we may acquire, it is not possible to 
arrive at an intelligent opinion. 

Yet our knowledge of astronomical facts is by no 
means meager. The astronomer can tell how many 
eclipses of the moon there will be in 2200 A. D. He can 
tell to the second when the eclipse will take place, also 
the positions, inclination and distances of the moon, 
earth and sun at that time. Wonderful, you say. Not 
at all. The astronomer has simply gone over his accu- 
mulation of facts with a critical eye and figured out an 
additional fact with pencil and paper. 

THE PROOF. 

Perhaps you consider my story of the evolution and 
dissolution of heavenly bodies as entirely imaginative. 
But the facts in the possession of the astronomer of to- 
day are, in the main, corroborative. The Nebula 
Theory is almost universally accepted as the most plausi- 
ble theory regarding the life history of suns and planets. 

Of course, even were it possible to take the testimony 
of every human being who had lived on the earth from 
the time of the ancient cave-dwellers of Greece down to 
the present day, we would be unable to state from the 
evidence secured just how the world was made. The 
world was already here when the first man appeared, and 
man's first existence here has been so recent that 
scarcely any appreciable change has taken place either in 
the density or the external appearance of the earth. The 
history of the human race would cover but a few thou- 
sand years, while the history of the earth and solar sys- 
tem extends for many millions of years before the ap- 
pearance of man and will extend for many millions of 
years after the human race has disappeared. 



UNHAND ME! 77 

Direct evidence regarding the formation of the earth 
being impossib^ it becomes necessary to theorize, using 
such proved facts as we do possess as a basis. Look at 
the stars on a clear night. We see some six thousand, 
more or less, and with a telescope we can see many more, 
the number apparently increasing according to the 
power of the telescope used. It is but natural to sup- 
pose that since each of these stars is the center of other 
solar systems, we might possibly find other solar systems 
in various stages of formation and dissolution. 

Point a common telescope toward the belt of Orion, 
and — yes, there you are! A solar system is really being- 
formed before our eyes! A further examination of the 
universe will reveal six thousand of the nebulae. The 
illustration marked "Exhibit One" is a reproduction 
from a photograph of the spiral nebula in Canes Ve- 
natici. "Exhibit Two" consists of six other nebulae, 
visible to the astronomer. Now, do not think that these 
are imaginative conceptions of the artist's idle moments; 
they are made from actual photographs of the nebulae as 
they were seen by the eye of the camera. To me, "Ex- 
hibit One" is especially interesting. Millions upon 
millions of miles in diameter, this whirlwind of matter, 
revolving around its center of attraction, is bowling on 
through space and acting as a message from the Su- 
preme Power to show us how the worlds were made. A 
careful, conscientious study of these embryo solar sys- 
tems cannot but convince us that the Nebula Theory of 
the evolution of matter is true. 

WHAT MOSES SAID. 

But Moses says that the Supreme Power created the 
universe! Just spoke the word, and, Aladdin-like, it 
appeared before him! Moses made the mistake that 
other noted philosophers of his time had made. He sup- 
posed that the earth was the center of the universe. 
Moses did not know that this earth was onlv a drop in 




: l#il i : ::1 






^te^.-:s-;/..-' : - •'•'■••'-'••-' -— ■ ••■ ■••:■■;•:."-.■-? : ;-.< 1 "«i>-.'^Jr'- ,f . 




EXHIBIT ONE 



^: 



EXHIBIT ONE 
Spiral Nebula in Canes Venatici 









' *gp 










■ - . 



'^^' v> 






EXHIBIT TWO, 




■ a^L^ 



EXHIBIT TWO 
Various Nebulae Visible to the Astronomer 



80 UNHAND ME! 

the bucket of eternal space. He did not know that there 
are millions and billions of other worlds flying through 
space, each pursuing its individual life and contributing 
its substance to the fulfilling of the laws of evolution and 
dissolution. Moses did not know that the modern tele- 
scope would enable us to look out into space and see 
worlds being made from preexisting matter. 

Ignorance may be bliss, but it is also the president 
of the failure trust. Moses's statements in regard to 
prehistoric events were not inspired, but were based 
upon the then existing traditions, which had perhaps 
been handed down from father to son for many genera- 
tions. It is impossible that the Supreme Power would 
have caused Moses to make statements which were un- 
true. For, though we know nothing concerning the 
personality (?) of the Supreme Power, yet it is hardly 
possible that telling fairy tales is one of his traits of 
character. 

Moses not only makes many statements which 
science has proved to be untrue, but he goes so far as to 
put the words into the mouth of the Supreme Power. 
Here is blasphemy, the most damnable blasphemy! 
Moses invents falsehoods and then tells the world that 
the Supreme Power was the author of those falsehoods. 
Is our "God" a liar, a corrupter of men's morals? 

Moses states that the Supreme Power created the 
earth, but the fact is that the earth is a mass of evoluted 
matter. Moses states that the Supreme Power created 
the first man in the image of "God,'" and that he also 
created Eve, using one of Adam's ribs as a basis; but 
science proves beyond an intelligent doubt that man is 
an evoluted animal and a member of the anthropoid 
species. However haughty and proud the human race 
may become, we cannot destroy the fact that man is an 
evoluted product. The gibbon, the gorilla, the chim- 
panzee, the orang, while now far below us in intelligence, 
were the cousins of our prehistoric ancestors. Adam may 



UNHAND ME! 81 

have been the name of the first member of the race that 
wore a fig-leaved petticoat, but Adam's ancestors were 
undoubtedly skilled in the sublime art of shaking cocoa- 
nut trees. 

Moses goes into a detailed account of the deluge and 
of the acts of "Noah." In the Hindu Bible we find an 
account so similar to that of the Christian Bible that it 
is more than probable that Moses simply translated his 
account from the Mahabharata. The book referred to 
mentions the ark, the pairing of animals, of the landing 
on the mountain peak and the sending forth of the dove. 
The truth about the matter is that there was a deluge, 
which occurred many thousands of years ago, so long a 
time before Moses's day that practically no trace of it re- 
mained except in the traditionary accounts inscribed on 
the monuments of the heathen. Moses, raised as 
Pharaoh's son, had all the opportunities of access to 
these hieroglyphical inscriptions, which undoubtedly fur- 
nished the basis of his "inspired" narrative. 

We have but to go to the ancient Bible of the Hindus 
to find the accepted Mosaic conception of the personality 
of the Supreme Power, and also the ten commandments. 
In the Mahabharata, a sacred book of the Brahmans, 
which was written centuries before Moses was born, we 
find a chapter on the personality of the Supreme 
Power that is absolutely identical with the "inspired" de- 
scription as given by Moses. 

Then to cap the climax, Moses is heralded as the 
prophet by the Supreme Power — the official representa- 
tive of the Supreme Power on earth. That portion of 
the Bible which he contributed is supposed to have been 
inspired, which in reality means written by the Supreme 
Power. But if we are to be honest in our search for 
truth facts will compel us to exclude the Mosaic writings 
from consideration as "inspired" fact. We often hear of 
ministers even who confess that Moses's ideas of pre- 
historic matters were mythical. In fact, it is an open 



82 UNHAND ME! 

secret in Christian theological institutions that Moses's 
fanciful narrative of the "beginning" is untenable. 

MOSES AND CHRIST. 

And do you know that to discredit Moses is the 
strongest possible argument against the claims of Christ 
to divinity? For, did not Christ fully indorse Moses's 
teachings in Luke 10:31, and did he not put his signet of 
approval on Moses's life and career in Matt. 17:3? 
Moses may have been a smart man, but it is hardly pos- 
sible that he possessed that degree of smartness calcu- 
lated to deceive an omniscient Supreme Power, such as 
Christ professed to be. If common sense tells us that 
Moses's writings were not true (even in the smallest de- 
tail), then our conception of the character of the Su- 
preme Power will not admit of his joining hands with an 
impostor. Truth and untruth are not unearthed in the 
same vein. A plagiarizing recorder of traditions and the 
personification of eternal truth could not consistently 
pose as twin brothers at a "transfiguration." 

If the Supreme Power was not the author (by inspi- 
ration) of the untruths recorded in Genesis, then the re- 
ligion of Christ is a human invention. And Christ's 
advocacy of Moses's integrity is an admission of his 
humanity, and is also proof of the falsity of his claims to 
divinity. 



THE FOUR INDICTMENTS AGAINST CHRIS- 
TIANITY. 

I. DRUNKENNESS. 

S the Church in earnest in its desire to brighten lives 
and save souls? Is the Church consistent in the 
efforts which it puts forth to uplift man, elevate 
his ideals and incite him on toward success? If 
so, then why does not the Church throw out its 
mighty arm and remove from man's pathway that fear- 
ful, hideous, damning stumbling-block — the saloon? 

The clergy constitute the most powerful system of 
platform orators that could be conceived, and their con- 
stituency — members and attendants of churches — con- 
stitute a vast majority of the voting strength of this re- 
public. And yet, with all this influence, with all this op- 
portunity, with all this strength, the Church of Christ — 
the much-heralded catholic religion — stands idly by and 
complacently sees 100,000 lives blighted by whisky an- 
nually, many thousand drink-crazed lunatics cast into 
insane asylums, drink-tainted young men sent to State 
prisons, 75,000 homes broken up by drink, 75,000 inno- 
cent orphans and 50,000 widows compelled to depend 
upon charity for their daily bread as a result of whisky's 
action on the brain of our fellow human beings. And 
besides this we must record the additional sacrifice of 
25,000 lives annually, which are chargeable directly and 
indirectly to the influences of distilled and malted 
liquors. 

In this country where the so-called "catholic religion" 
is strong and deeply rooted we find the young man, ad- 
vised and accompanied by prelates and laymen, clinking 
his first glass of wine at the banquet table. Later on he 
is initiated into the enticing game of taking odds at one 
of our racetracks, owned by members of the Church of 



84 UNHAND ME! 

Christ, or at one of our poolrooms, which are supplied 
with race information by a corporation controlled by 
Christian scribes and pharisees. Later on this same 
young man is led to the Tenderloin, an institution 
allowed to exist in a Christian-controlled city, where 
more vice, more hell is born in one night than the 
Church with its slow-moving conservatism will be able 
to counteract in a half-centurv. Finallv this voun^ man. 
intoxicated with the exuberance of drink-inflamed ''life" 
and jollity, hopelessly fascinated by that inseparable trio 
— wine, women and song — plunges headlong upon a 
career of dissipation and ruin, punctuated at intervals by 
high-balls and beer. 

What is the Church doin^ to counteract the influence 
of the saloon? "Well." the Christian replies, "we have 
erected orphan asylums and widows' homes, we send 
clergymen to the prisons to induce the prisoners to ac- 
cept Christ as their saviour, we publish leaflets and tracts 
which warn the young against the dangers of the sa- 
loon, and when we are thirsty we slip in the side door so 
that the inexperienced will not see our hypocrisy. " I am 
speaking of the attitude of the Church as a body. In- 
dividual churchmen sometimes come out flat-footed and 
denounce the saloon as a legalized hell-gate; but these 
isolated cases are frowned upon even -by the very elect. 
Many high priests of Christianity, those whose hearts 
and lives are supposed to be consecrated to Christ's 
service, are not only deaf to the cry of the drunkard, the 
pleading of the widow and the wail of the orphan, but 
actually indorse and patronize the saloon. Our bottle- 
bummer Bishop Potter has put his hand to the plow 
and clergymen and laymen all over the country have 
patted the beer-boozer Bishop on the back and have 
raised their glasses high in the air as they shout: "Here's 
to the health of Christianity." The Subway Tavern, on 
Bleecker street, New York City, commonly called 
"Potter's Saloon." or more appropriately, "Potter's 



UNHAND ME! 85 

Field," is primarily a place for dispensing intoxicating 
liquors. The presence of women in the saloon is no in- 
novation or sign of respectability, as women are found 
in the back rooms of every saloon in that district. This 
Subway Tavern is the entering wedge of an effort to 
fasten the whisky habit upon those who would other- 
wise avoid it. The approval which has been placed 
upon it by certain supposedly respectable Christians will 
lure to the saloon persons who would have otherwise 
stayed away. Its bid for women and family trade is par- 
ticularly pernicious. The most important influence the 
saloons of the East Side have on the tenements is that 
they rob the poor of their meager earnings. And when 
we observe the ruin among the tenement-dwellers 
caused by the drink evil, we cannot figure out how even 
a "reform" saloon will benefit the poor man or his family. 
Instead of devoting our time and energy in trying to 
"elevate" that which is undeniably rotten to the core, I 
cannot understand why we should not entirely uproot the 
evil and plant in its stead something which would guar- 
antee at least some return for the time and money in- 
vested. 

For the benefit of Bishop Potter and his supporters 
the following article culled from the New York 
American of December 23, 1903, is interesting in many 
ways. The most interesting feature in this connection is 
the activity of "Father" Foy and the Children's Societies 
in cleaning up the work which a Christian city and coun- 
try allow the "devil" to accomplish unhampered: 

"Reeling across car tracks, escaping death under 
the wheels of a trolley car; staggering up over the 
curb and falling senseless upon the pavement, her 
head resting against a big wooden box, pretty Jenny 
Reynolds, of Jersey City, has thrown all the charity 
organizations of that place into a fever of exalted 
wonderment and indignation. 

"In plain language, Jenny was drunk — hopelessly 
drunk; and the indignation referred to is caused by 



86 UNHAND ME! 

the fact that somebody was mean enough to sell the 
little girl the liquor that brutalized her. 

"It was 7 o'clock Monday night when Jenny was 
found dead drunk on the sidewalk, near the corner 
of York and Washington streets. As quickly as was 
possible she was taken to the hospital, where the 
doctors worked over her for ten hours before she was 
resuscitated. For a long time it looked as though the 
case was hopeless, but by the use of the stomach- 
pump, aided by every other known remedy, the little 
girl's life was at last saved. 

"Miss Day and Miss Bradford, head workers in 
the Children's Aid Society and the Whittier House 
Settlement, together with Father Foy, of the 
Catholic Children's Society, are thoroughly interested 
in the unfortunate child's case, and will do all they 
can for her. 

"The Reynolds family live on the third floor, rear, 
of No. 150 Steuben street. They have two rooms. 
In the two rooms dwell the father, mother and seven 
children, the oldest being fifteen, the youngest less 
than a year. It is >a miserable habitation, bare, cheer- 
less, wind-swept, desolate. 

"When asked if she gave the children beer or 
whisky, the mother answered with a sickly smile : 
'Yes, sometimes.' 'I don't,' said the father, T wouldn't 
waste no beer or whisky on them kids.' The 'kids' 
looked as though they were not counting to 'any great 
extent upon a 'Merry Christmas.' In their poor 
little faces there was none of the gladness that one 
looks for in children's eyes at this season of the 
year." 

I hereby charge Christianity^ with aiding and abetting 
an attempt to stultify the brain' and weaken the body of 
mankind by allowing the saloon to exist. 

II. POVERTY. 

"The poor always ye have with you." These words 
of Christ indicate that we should always have two ex- 
treme classes of society — the pauper and the millionaire. 
Rich men often quote this passage to condone their own 
parsimony, contending that poverty is eternal. But it 
seems to me that a catholic religion would teach men a 



UNHAND ME! 87 

different doctrine than this. Poverty is not a permanent 
institution — it can not be a permanent institution. When 
men — thinking men — become freed from dollar-mad in- 
fluences, realize the real meaning of the brotherhood of 
man, and wake up to the fact that poverty is the fore- 
runner of disease, and that disease is the forerunner of 
death, we shall see poverty removed. 

Hundreds of thousands of children die in the slums of 
our great cities every year. Poverty, in the form of lack 
of food, lack of fresh air and lack of medical atten- 
tion, invites disease, and then — death. The parents — 
themselves reared in the slums — work their lives away in 
the sweatshops, earning scarcely enough to keep life 
within the body. They and their children, poorly fed, 
poorly clothed, are huddled together like hogs in foul, 
death-breeding tenements. Little babes are born; they 
raise their little eyes in wonderment at the strange sights 
of this great world. A few days, a few months or a few 
years pass, and then the poor little innocent child, unable 
to withstand the deadly germs that infest its home, loses 
the luster of its eyes, and a slow, insidious pallor creeps 
over the little one's face. There is no monev for the 
doctor, there is no money for medicine, there is no 
money for proper food. The hand of death is here. 
Poverty claims its victim. 

Every week hundreds of innocent children are mur- 
dered by poverty in New York City alone. Are the 
children to blame for the existence of poverty? Their 
parents may be shiftless, but must their children suffer 
death because of the parents' lack of thrift? Would you 
call it justice should the law electrocute you because 
your father happened to be a poor man? That is ex- 
actly what the laws of society decree — only that it sub- 
stitutes disease for electrocution. For every man slain 

in battle ten thousand little babes are murdered bv 

■ 

poverty. 



88 UNHAND ME! 

Millions of dollars are spent by this Christian Gov- 
ernment in maintaining a Bureau which investigates and 
combats diseases of domestic animals, such as horses, 
cows, sheep and pigs. But not one cent is spent by our 
Government in investigating or combating the diseases 
that carry away the children of the poverty-stricken 
brother. And yet this is a Christian nation, a Christian 
Government, a Christian people! 

Christ gave this advice to a certain rich young man 
who was desirous of finding the Kingdom of Heaven: 
"Go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor." There 
are tens of thousands of rich men to-day who have no 
intention of giving what they have to the poor, and yet 
they hope and pray that Christ will make an exception of 
their cases and that they will be among the elect when 
Gabriel blows his trumpet. They try to overlook the 
command of Christ and tack above their desks the advice 
of St. Paul, "Hold fast that which is good." Of course, 
if Christians should follow Christ's command, we might 
greatly minimize the poverty question, but since there is 
not one rich Christian in ten thousand who has any in- 
tention of obeying it, the absurdity of such advice is 
apparent. 

We need a practical solution of the poverty evil. We 
want to see to it that babes born to the poor are given a 
chance to live. We want to see to it that their little 
lungs are permitted to breathe pure, fresh air. We want 
to see to it that the babes of the poor are properly fed, 
properly clothed, properly educated. We want to see to 
it that the poor child has as good a chance as has the 
child of the rich. Put them on a par, as far as advan- 
tages and equipment are concerned, and you will have 
solved the poverty question. As it is to-day, in this 
Christian city and nation, hundreds of children are al- 
lowed to die every day for lack of a few cents' worth of 
pure milk. Aged women, unable longer to "earn" their 
daily bread, are permitted to starve to death in bare and 

Ufa 



UNHAND ME! 89 

unhealthy hovels, for want of money with which to pur- 
chase the bare necessities of life. Aged men, forced 
from ill-paying positions by other men, younger and 
stronger, are permitted to freeze to death on our streets, 
for want of money with which to procure shelter and 
clothing. 

A catholic religion would strike a blow at poverty, 
but Christianity, instead of opposing poverty, tends to 
increase it. Who contributes the $380,000,000 given in 
America each year for the support of religion? Is it the 
rich man on Fifth avenue? Those versed in the affairs 
of national church statistics will tell you that the dollar- 
a-day man, the two-dollar-a-day man and the three- 
dollar-a-day man contribute three-fourths of the total 
amount. The class that really needs the money with 
which to purchase the necessities of life contributes the 
widow's mite to support the minister, to hire the choir, 
to meet the running expenses of the church and to pay 
Brother Jones's board bill over in Hongkong. 

And why is this money needed? Simply to keep pov- 
erty away from Christianity itself. And why should we 
keep poverty away from Christianity? Because poverty 
would kill Christianity. Without the money with which 
to sustain itself Christianity would fall flat. It would 
be tried by a commercial world and railroaded to State's 
prison for vagrancy. Without the money which the 
Church of Christ wrings from the poor, by threatening 
eternal damnation for refusal, the Bible would in a few 
years time be put on the second-hand shelf and labeled, 
"Fancies and Foibles of the Christ-Man." 

I maintain that a God-given religion would not need 
the widow's mite with which to sustain itself. It would 
rather tell the widow to keep her mite to procure food, 
clothing and shelter. Not only this, but a God-given re- 
ligion would see to it that the widow did not suffer from 
lack of the necessities of life. 



90 UNHAND ME! 

III. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 

It was a law among savages that death be the pen- 
alty for murder. It is also the law among civilized 
peoples. Even among those nations where Christ's 
divinity and philosophy are taught and believed in we 
find the old law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a 
tooth. Christianity is on record as a supporter of capi- 
tal punishment. Rev. R. S. Law r son, pastor of Ainslie 
Street Presbyterian Church, Williamsburg, says: "Men 
who take the life of another should meet the fate of their 
victim." Rev. Dr. Harris, of Temple Israel, New York 
City, says: "The exigencies of societv make capital 
punishment a necessity." Rev. G. F. Glover, chaplain 
of St. Luke's Hospital, New York City, says: "Capital 
punishment is a necessity; there is no reason why 
leniency should be shown the murderer." Bishop 
Potter says: "Nothing w r rong is being done in electro- 
cuting a man for murder; no clemency should be 
shown." I quote these remarks from a few well-known 
clergymen to prove that the sentiment even among 
those supposed to be consecrated or set apart by divine 
will is in favor of the old doctrine of a life for a life. I 
might go even further and cite hundreds of instances 
where the Church of Christ not only sanctioned capital 
punishment, but has even acted the part of judge and 
executioner. 

I maintain that capital punishment is wrong injheory 
and barbaric in practice. I further claim that a catholic 
religion would look with horror on the suggestion of 
compounding a crime. If a man steals another man's 
life we are compounding that crime by stealing his life 
from him, and before the bar of common sense we are 
as guilty as he. Because a man commits murder we 
have no right to murder him. Capital punishment tends 
to lower the popular estimate of the value of life. 



UNHAND ME! 91 

A man who deliberately takes the life of a fellow- 
being is mentally weak. He is lacking in mind. This 
mental deficiency may be inherited, or it may be the re- 
sult of some mental disease. Psychology tells us that 
our brains are as liable to disease as our bodies, and 
the slightest derangement of a few brain cells may result 
in changing a man of gentle habits into a vicious 
criminal. Our brains are extremely delicate mechanisms; 
thousands of ideas and atoms of knowledge are stored 
away among their minute compartments or cells. And 
each cell is responsible for its share in maintaining the 
stability of the brain as a whole. Suppose an insidious 
disease breaks out among a certain group of cells (this 
disease is sometimes so unnoticeable as to be unappre- 
ciated), the complexion of those cells is altered to a 
greater or less extent and often rendered useless. 

Generally speaking, a mature man's mental condition 
is determined by his lines of mental concentration. For 
instance, a man does you an injury; you concentrate 
your mind on the fact; the result is that that portion of 
your brain in which the cells lie that have to do with that 
fact is plentifully supplied with bright, red blood fresh 
from the arteries that lead from the heart. Those cells 
become live with action, they increase in number and 
size. Concentration on the fact will in time cause the 
entire brain to become affected. People say we are 
"brooding over it," "or taking it to heart." Long-con- 
tinued concentration on the fact will in time result dis- 
astrously to us, either physically or mentally. Some- 
times people "waste away" physically, as a result of 
mental concentration upon the fact of an injury, and 
death by consumption or heart disease results. Or this 
mental concentration may allow the brute nature within 
us to become dominant, and we commit suicide or do 
murder. A criminal is a human being with a mental 
disease. It is an error to suppose that he is wilfully 
vicious. He is a sick man. Send him not to the electric 



92 UNHAND ME! 

chair but to a prison hospital, where efforts will be put 
forth to improve his mental condition, and confine him 
there until he is cured, and no longer. This may mean 
life imprisonment for some and a shorter period for 
others. 

If a man murders another, he is at least partly ex- 
cusable, in that he was mentally unbalanced; but what 
excuse have we, intelligent men, for putting him to 
death? Do we benefit the murderer's victim? Do we 
benefit the murderer? Do we benefit ourselves? Then, 
what right has a custom to existence if it is not of some 
benefit to somebody? 

There is another argument against capital punish- 
ment, more important, if possible, than that of mental 
debility. What becomes of the murderer after we kill him? 
The Bible states that he goes to hell. If such is the 
case, don't you think that since the murderer is already 
judged and convicted by the Supreme Power, we 
can afford to let that same Supreme Power also decide 
the date on which the murderer shall begin his punish- 
ment in that horrible, seething furnace of eternal fire? 
Should we not rather sympathize with the poor fellow, 
knowing that he is doomed, and that there is no chance 
for him to escape the awful punishment? Lock him up 
if you will, scourge him, spit on him, but for the sake 
of decency don't tear the life from his miserable body. 

I have given you the Bible's version of the penalty for 
murder. But I do not intend to say that this version is 
correct. If we are to acknowledge the facts of the new 
psychology we must doubt if a man has a soul. If such 
should be the case, the Biblical idea is erroneous and it 
leaves the question of the murderer's ultimate end un- 
answered. We don't know what we are doing when we 
take a man's life, legally or otherwise. We don't know 
what it means to deprive a man of his natural share of 
existence. We don't know the destiny of a criminal. 
We are a set of ignoramuses dabbling in a mystery. We 



UNHAND ME! 93 

are self-appointed avengers, dealing out a punishment of 
which we know not the depth. We are doing unto 
others that which we "hope to God" will never be done 
unto us. When a poor, unfortunate fellow commits a 
crime, while suffering from imperfect mentality, we 
wave the red flag and cry, "Crucify him, crucify him!" 
And where is Christianity on this question? Look 
among the rabble that vociferously announce the popu- 
lar verdict; look among the high priests that teach the 
rabble what to think and what to say. There they are — 
Christians all of them — brothers of Christ and propaga- 
tors of the new, the great, the grand, the glorious 
"universal religion." 

The blackest criminal that ever walked the earth is a 
brother — unfortunate, ill-advised or hasty — but still a 
brother. He has at least a germ of human feeling within 
his hardened exterior. The duty of humanity is to cul- 
tivate that spark of unselfishness, or sympathy or love, 
and do for him as we would that others would do for us 
were we similarly situated. We are all criminals at 
heart. We can all recall times in our lives when we 
would have committed some overt act if circumstances 
had "demanded it." Let us therefore not only forget 
and forgive, but reclaim the weak brother. A catholic 
religion will display prominently among its doctrines a 
demand for the discontinuance of capital punishment. 

IV. INTOLERANCE. 

Millions of people have been run through as a result 
of technical differences among Christians. Disputes 
over what Christ said and over what Christ meant have 
resulted in the deaths of a sufficient number of Chris- 
tians to fill comfortably a medium-sized heaven and hell. 
Ever since the death of Christ "sects" have been contin- 
ually forming, each claiming to have the only true 
knowledge as to what Christ meant and as to what he 
did not mean. And each sect, with the Bible in one 




YOU who have followed the public discussion in regard 
to Martin Luther, which has been going on for some 
time in the columns of the New York Globe, will 
perhaps agree with me that intolerance is one of the fruits 
of Christianity. One Roman Catholic writer accused the 
Protestants of being poor "misguided fools." And Prot- 
estants have replied in kind. Protestant historians have 
been quoted to prove that Luther was all that is pure and 
noble, while Roman Catholic historians have been quoted 
to prove that Luther was the most corrupt mortal with 
whom the world has ever been cursed. The idea seems to 
be not to state honestly the true character of the man, but 
to support partisan claims. Roman Catholics vilify Luther 
because they were taught by their fathers that Luther was 
vile. And Protestants honor Luther because their fathers 
taught them that Luther was a chosen vessel of the Supreme 
Power. The truth in regard to Luther, and other important 
matters, will never be known because both sides are will- 
ing, if need be, to lie to support their religions ! The sources 
of religion are ignorance and superstition. The "authori- 
tative" truths are gathered and reflected on the world and 
effectually prevent a true universal brotherly feeling. When 
will thinking: men realize this truth? 



UNHAND ME! 95 

hand and a sword in the other, has gone forth to save 
or to kill, as seemed more expedient. The religious wars 
which have continually devastated Europe since the time 
of Martin Luther were the most horrible, brutal and re- 
volting possible. Torture, assassination and criminal 
villainy on one side have been pitted against torture, 
assassination and criminal villainy on the other. 

The wars of ancient Rome were, at least, conducted 
from a semi-civilized standpoint, but what can we say of 
those who participated in the bloody wars between the 
Christian sects of Europe, when not only were the men 
slain and the women thrown to wild beasts, but the chil- 
dren spiked and thrown upon the dunghills? Is human- 
ity a pack of ravenous dogs, and is Christianity a bone 
of contention cast in their midst by an unscrupulous 
overseer? 

The two great factions of Christians, Roman Catho- 
lics and Protestants, are, even in this late day of re- 
ligious liberty, continually fighting like dogs and cats. 
The Catholics say that the Protestants are surely going 
to hell, and the Protestants say that the Catholics have 
got the thing twisted. Both say: "Heaven was made 
for us, and hell was made for the other fellows." Both, 
of these Christian factions are apparently honest, earnest, 
conscientious and aggressive; but both are intolerant 
and exclusive in the extreme. The Christian Church is 
composed of a mass of warring atoms. Religious preju- 
dice and bigotry are taught in our Sunday-schools and 
preached from the pulpits. There are, all told, three 
hundred different creeds or shades of religious belief in 
the United States at the present time, and each is ex- 
pending time, money and energy in disparaging those 
who differ from it in technicalities. 

All of these sects "look forward" to a brotherhood of 
man, but according to their own ideals. The Baptists 
think that such a brotherhood is impossible until all 
have become Baptists. The Catholics say that the 



96 UNHAND ME! 

brotherhood of man will be a reality when the Papacy 
has silenced all opposition. The Mormons are working 
for a universal brotherhood in which Mormonism shall 
be supreme. The Presbyterians tell us that a brother- 
hood without the Westminster Confession would be im- 
possible. Each sect is hoping, working and praying for 
the dawn of the brotherhood of man, but each insists on 
bossing the job. There are already three hundred 
prominent candidates in the United States alone for the 
honor of being boss, and the number is fast increasing. 
Ten years hence the number may be increased to five 
hundred, and one hundred years hence there will proba- 
bly be as many as twenty-five thousand, until finally 
every man will have a private technical creed of his own, 
unless in the meantime we wake up to the fact that re- 
ligion, with its trouble-breeding possibilities, is the one 
great deterring element that effectually prevents the 
fusion of a universal brotherly feeling. 



Let us earnestly consider this matter. Can I not 
love my neighbor, regardless of whether I believe in 
Christ's divinity? Can I not share my income w T ith the 
poor and helpless, regardless of whether I believe in the 
existence of a heaven or a hell ? Can I not visit the sick, 
encourage the unfortunate, cheer the despondent and 
care for the fatherless, regardless of whether I believe 
in a personal "God"? Does the absence of a religion 
prevent me from being a brother of man? I shall con- 
tinue to do unto others as I wish others to do unto me. 
I reiterate and I firmly believe that if a man thinks and 
acts right he will live right, and that if a man lives right 
he will die right, and that he need have no fear whatever 
in regard to any future existence into which he may pass 
after death — if, indeed, the grave be not the end of man. 



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